Class _ Book_ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT NEW YORK STATE'S PROMINENT AND PROGRESSIVE MEN AN ENCYCL^^ " lA OV CONTEMPORANEOUS :IOGRAPHY COMPILED BY MITCHELL C. HARRISON VOLUME I % NEW YORK TRIBUNE 1900 Libr«< / or 1:0-, e,I^ Two 1 jpitj x»ve,.tn AUG 18 1900 S£C('y> copy. OROtK OlVtSION, Copyright, 1900, by The Tribune Association 7416G The De Vinne Prcm CONTENTS 1 Edward Dean Adams 3 James Waddel Alexander 5 Henry B. Anderson ^ Avery De Lano Andrews ' ' g i Clarence Degrand Ashley . . . 12 John Jacob Astor 18 ^^ WiLLLVM Astor 21 William Delay an Baldwin 23 WiLLiAJi Henry Baldwin, Jr . . . . 25 Amzi Lorenzo Barber 27 George Carter Barrett 29 John Richard Bartlett " 33 ^ . Henry Rutgers Beekman ' " g. Henry Bischofp, Jr ' ' 37 James Armstrong Blanchard " " " ^^ Cornelius Newton Bliss . . . 42 Emil L. Boas 44 Frank Stuart Bond ^5 Henry Weller Bookstaver " " ^g Henry Prosper Booth . . . 50 Sdion Boeg 53 Archer Brown ' 55 Alonzo Norman Burbank ' ^g Samuel Roger Callaway . . . GO Juan Manuel Ceballos g2 William Astor Chanler ^^ Hugh Joseph Chisholji ' ' ' ^^ WiLLLAM BOURKE COCKRAN ' ' rj2 William Nathan Cohen " ' ' ^^ Bird Sim Coler . . . 76 Frank W. Coler ^g WiLLLAM Nichols Coler, Jr ' ' g^ Washington Everett Connor g2 Henry Harvey Cook ' g^ Paul Drennan Cravath ' gg George Crocker CONTENTS Joseph Francis Daly 91 Elliot Dankorth 93 JULIEN TaPPAN DaVIES 95 William Gilbert Da vies 97 Charles Wxlloughby Dayton 100 Henry Wheeler De Forest 102 Robert Weeks De Forest I04 Richard Delafield 106 Chauncey Mitchell Depew lOg Theodore Low De Vinne HI Frederick Willl\m Devoe II3 Watson Bradley Dickerman II5 Edward Nicoll Dickeeson II7 James B. Dill 119 Louis F. Doyle 122 Silas Belden Dutcher 124 Amos Richards Eno 126 John H. Flagler 128 Charles Ranlett Flint 130 ROSWELL PeTTIBONE FlOWEB I33 Charles A. Gardiner I35 Isaac Edwin Gates I37 Edward Nathan Gibbs I39 Theodore GiLJLiN 142 Frank J. Gould I44 George J. Gould 147 Sanford Shorter Gowdey 149 James Ben Ali Haggin 151 N. Wetmore Halsey I55 Oliver Habrijian, Jr 157 George B. McClellan Harvey 159 Charles Hathaway 161 Daniel Addison Heald 164 Arthur Philip Heinze 166 F. Augustus Heinze 168 James William Hinkley 170 Edward H. Hobbs 172 Eugene Augustus Hoffman 174 F. C. Hollins 176 Harry Bowley Hollins 178 John Hone 180 William Butler Hornblower 182 Henry Elias Ho^t^and 184 Colgate Hoyt 186 Thomas Hamlin Hubbard 188 CoLLis Potter Hitn-tington 191 Clarence MEL\^LLE Hyde 193 Frederick Erastus Hyde 195 Henry Baldwin Hyde 197 CONTENTS 199 Darwin R. James ^^^ Walter S. Johnston 203 James Robert Keene 206 Elijah Robinson Kennedy 209 Henry Scanlan Kerr ! ' 211 Robert Jackson Kimball 2-^4 WiLLiAJi F. King '210 Darwin Pearl Kingsley 2i8 Percival Kuhne '220 John Campbell Latham 202 Edward Lauterbach 294 Lysander Walter Lawrence 226 James D. Layng oog J. Edgar Leaycraft 231 David Leventritt 233 Adolph Lewisohn 235 Leonard Lewisohn 237 Edward Victor Loew ^gg Richard Purdy Lounsbery 241 Edward E. McCall ^^^ John Augustine McCall 245 John Jajies McCook 243 Thosias Alexander McIntyre ^^^ John Savage McKeon ^.^ Emerson McMillin ^^^ Clarence Hungerford Mackay ". John Williaji IVL^ckay ' William Mahl '^^^ Sylvester Malone " ,-, Ebenezer Sturges Mason ~ '" Warner Miller "^^ Darius Ogden Mills " John Pierpont Morgan " p Levi Parsons Morton "7 Robert Prater Munro ^_ Walter D. Munson ;:;' Lewis Nlxon " „ M. J. O'Brien ~^^ Daniel O'Day IJ^g Alexander Ector Orr "i Norton Prentiss Otis Francis Asbury Palmer ~' Stephen Squires Palmer ^ jj John Edward Parsons "1 William Frederick Piel, Jr ^ WiNSLOW Shelby Pierce '1 Gilbert Motier Plyjipton Edward Erie Poor ' Henry William Poor CONTENTS Henry Smallwood Redmond 3J0 Isaac Leopold Rice 322 Thomas Gardiner Ritch 3^4 William H. Robertson 3I6 Charles Francis Roe 31g Theodore Roosevelt 32o Ellhu Root 323 Harry Godley Runkle 326 Henry Woodward Sackett 328 Russell Sage 331 William Salomon 334 Edward Williaji Scott 336 John Marston Scribner 333 John Ennis Searles 340 Henry Seibert 343 Henry Seligman 345 Isaac Newton Seligman 349 Henry Francis Shoejlaker 354 Edward Lyman Short 356 Charles Stewart Smith 353 Ds Witt Smith 360 John Sabine Smith 363 R. A. C. Smith 365 Frederick Smyth 367 Elbridge Gerry Snow 369 George Henry Southard 37I Jajies Speyer 373 John William Sterling 375 Lispenard Stewart 378 William Rhinelander Stewart 380 Jajies Stillman 382 Gage Eli Tarbell 385 Frank Tilford 387 Charles Whitney Tillinghast 389 Charles Harrison Tweed 391 Cornelius Vanderbilt 393 Alfred Van Santvoord 396 Aldace Freeman Walker 400 John Henry Washburn 402 William Ives Washburn 404 William Henry Webb 406 Charles Whitman Wetmore 408 Charles Whann 411 Clarence Whitman 414 Stewart Lyndon Woodford 416 A. M. Young 418 George Washington Young 420 PREFACE THE history of a modern state is chiefly the histoiy of its prominent and progressive men. Ancient history is starred with the names of monarchs, conquerors, great soldiers, daring adventurers. Only a few great names in industry, commerce, and professional life sm-vive. There is some mention, perhaps, of the vastness of the multitude that composed city or nation ; but of those who really leavened the lump thei-e is little. The mer- chant princes, the caj^tains of industry, the practitioners of law, who contributed so largely to the greatness and glory of olden communities, have vanished as completely from the record as have their shops from the forum and their galleys from the sea. The latter-day record is more just. Men of thought and men of action win their places as surely and as securely as those who are born to theirs. The truth of Emerson's saying is more and more becoming recognized, that " the true test of civihzation is not the census, nor the crops; no, but the kind of man the country turns out." It is quality, not merely quantity or num- bers, that counts. There are to-day plenty of men of political or other distinction, or of vast wealth, known to the world for the reason of those conditions. There is in this closing year of the nineteenth century being taken in the United States a census which will impressively display the aggregated greatness, in numbers and in wealth, of the nation. But " the kind of man the nation turns out " — not the kind of President, or General, or millionaire only, but the kind of average, every-day man in busi- I PKEFACE ness, commercial, industrial, or professional life — is to be shown through other mediums than mere statistics. He is to be shown in the story of his life. It is the aim of the present work, in this and the succeeding volumes, to set forth the life-records of a considerable and repre- sentative number of the prominent and progressive men of the Empire State of the American Union. They are chosen from ail honorable walks of life, pubhc and private. They represent all political parties, all departments of industry and trade, and the various learned professions which fill so large a place m the social economy of the modern community. Some of them are in afflu- ent and some in moderate financial circumstances. Some of them have finished or are finishing then- life-works, and some of them are, seemingly, only upon the thresholds of their careers. There is no intention nor attempt to choose or to compose a class, save as native abiUty and achieved leadership in affairs may be the characteristics of a class. There are names on the roll that will command instant recognition ; and there are others that may have in these pages their first introduction to the gen- eral pubUc. The one qualification required, which will be found a characteristic of all, is that of such achievement as gives fair title to prominence or to a repute for progress. A work of this kind is of necessity much like a daily newspaper in at least one respect. It deals with things as they are at the moment of publication, and as they have been down to that time. The next day may materially alter them. Before these pages are all read by those who shall read them, new items may be added to many a record which will be missing from the book. The biographer cannot forecast the future. He can do nothing more than to make his story as complete as possible down to the time when he lays down his pen, and as accurate as possible, with aU research and consultation with the subjects of his sketches. f EDWARD DEAN ADAMS EDWARD DEAN ADAMS, as his name might indicate, comes of Puritan ancestiy, and was born in Boston, on April 9, 1846. He was educated at Chauncey Hall, Boston, and Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, being graduated from the latter in 1864. After two years of travel, chiefly in Europe, he entered the banking business, and has since devoted his life largely to financial enterprises. His first engagement was, from 1866 to 1870, as bookkeeper and cashier for a firm of bankers and brokers in Boston. In 1870 he assisted in organizing the firm of Richardson, Hill & Co. of Boston, and remained a partner in it until 1878. Then he came to New York and became a partner in the old and honored banking house of Winslow, Lanier & Co. For fifteen years he was a member of that house, and with it participated in many of the most important government, railway, and muni- cipal financial negotiations of the active business period from 1878 to 1893. In the last-named year he retired fi-om the firm to devote his attention to various large properties in which he had become individually interested. While in the firm of Winslow, Lanier & Co., Mr. Adams paid especial attention to raih'oad construction and reorganization enterprises. Thus he organized, in 1882-83, the Northern Pacific Terminal Company, and became its president. In 1883 he organized the St. Paul and Northern Pacific Railway Company, pro\dded its capital, and served as vice-president. In 1885 he organized and constructed the New Jersey Jmiction Raih'oad, and planned the reorganization of the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway, the New York, Ontario and Western Railway, and the West Shore and Ontario Terminal Company, and in the 2 EDWARD DEAN ADAMS following year his plans were exactly executed. In 1887 lie res- cued the New Jersey Central Railroad from a receivership, and in 1888 marketed the new issue of bonds of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The American Cotton Oil Trust was rescued from bankruptcy by him in 1890, and in that same year he be- came president of the Cataract Construction Company, at Niagara Falls. Finally, in 1893, he became chau-mau of the reorganiza- tion committee of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He is now a prominent officer of the American Cotton Oil Company, the Cataract Construction Company, the Central and South Ameri- can Telegraph Company, the West Shore Railroad, and the New Jersey Central Raih"oad. While some men have gained prominence and fortune as "rail- road-wreckers," and as the destroyers of other enterprises for their selfish gain, it has been Mr. Adams's happier distinction to save industrial enterprises from wreck, and to restore them to prosperity. Thus he saved the American Cotton Oil Company from what seemed certainly impending bankruptcy, and played a leading part in reorganizing the West Shore Railroad Company, so as to rescue it from danger and make it the substantial concern it now is. His services to the New Jersey Central Raih'oad Com- pany were of the highest order, involving the taking it out of a receiver's hands and putting it upon its present solvent and profitable basis. To the Philadelphia and Reading Raih'oad Company, and to more than a few others, he has rendered valu- able services on similar lines. It has been his business mission to build rather than to tear down, to create rather than to de- stroy. This admirable feature of his career has on several occa- sions been formally recognized by his associates and by those whose interests he has benefited. Mr. Adams was mai-ried, in 1872, to Miss Fannie A. Grutter- son of Boston, and has a son and a daughter. He is promi- nently connected with the National Academy of Design, Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Fine Arts Society, and American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a member of the Union League, MetropoUtan, City, Players', Lawyers', Tuxedo, Riding, and Groher clubs, and the New England Society, of New York, and the Chicago Club of Chicago. rm JAMES WADDEL ALEXANDER FOR many years one of the foremost preachers, teachers, and writers of the Presbyterian Chui'ch in the United States was the Rev. Dr. James Waddel Alexander, who was pastor of leading churches in New York city and elsewhere, a professor in Princeton College, editor of the " Presbyterian," and author of more than thirty religious books. He was a son of the Rev. Dr. Ai-chibald Alexander of Princeton College, and, on his mother's side, a grandson of the " blind preacher," James Wad- del, who was made famous by William Wirt, Dr. Alexander married Miss Ehzabeth C. Cabell, a member of the historic Virginia family of that name, of English origin. His own family was of Scotch-Irish origin, and was first settled in this country in Virginia. James Waddel Alexander, the second of the name, was born to the fore-mentioned couple at Princeton, New Jersey, on July 19, 1839, his father being at that time professor of rhetoric and belles-lettres at the college there. He was educated at home and in various preparatory schools, and finally at Princeton Col- lege, being in the third generation of his family identified with that institution. On the completion of his academic course he adopted the law as his profession, and, after due study, was ad- mitted to the New York bar and entered upon practice in this city. He was a partner in the fii*m of Cummins, Alexander & Green. In the vear 1866 Mr. Alexander became actively identified with the vast business of life-insurance. He had already paid much attention to it in a professional way, and was particularly attracted to it through the fact that his uncle, WiUiani C. Alex- ander, was president of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of 4 JAMES WADDEL ALEXANDEK New York, one of the foremost institutions of tlie kind in the world. In 1866, then, he became secretary of the Equitable, and thereafter gave to that great coi-poration a large share of his labor and thought, with mutually profitable results. His aptitude for the business showed itself, and was recognized presently in his promotion to the office of second ^dee-president. From that place he was again promoted to the office of vice-president, which he still occupies with eminent satisfaction. To his earnest labors and far-seeing and judicious pohcy, in conjunction with those of his associates, is largely due the unsurpassed prosperity of the Equitable. But Mr. Alexander has not permitted even that great corpo- ration to monopohze his attention. He has found time and strength to look after various other business affairs, some of them of the highest importance. He is thus a director of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, of the Mercantile Trust Company, and of the Western National Bank, of this city. Mr. Alexander has held no pohtical office, and has not figured conspicuously in party management. He has long taken, how- ever, a deep interest in the welfare of State and nation, as a citizen loyally and intelhgently fulfllhng the duties of citizen- ship. He has ever been a loyal son of his Alma Mater, the great university with which his father and his grandfather were so conspicuously identified, and has given to Princeton ungrudg- ingly, and to excellent purpose, his time, his labor, his means, and his influence. Mr. Alexander is at the present time president of the Univer- sity Club, and a member of the Century, Metropolitan, University, Athletic, Lawj^ers', and Princeton clubs, of New York. He was married, in 1864, to Ehzabeth Beasley of Ehzabeth, New Jersey, a daughter of Benjamin Wilhamson, formerly Chancellor of the State of New Jersey. They have three children, as follows : Ehzabeth, wife of John W. Alexander, the well-known artist, now resident in Paris, France ; Henry Martjm Alexander, Jr., a prominent lawyer, of the firm of Alexander & Colby, of New York ; and Frederick Beasley Alexander, who is at this time (1900) an undergraduate at Princeton University, in the fourth genera- tion of his family in that venerable seat of learning. |4^wx>^ (<^ La^vV.^ ^-7^7U>i^c^^^^^ CORNELIUS NEWTON BLISS AMONG the citizens whom this city, and indeed this nation, J\. might most gladly put forward as types of the best citi- zenship, in probity, enterprise, and culture, the figure of Corne- lius Newton Bliss stands conspicuous. As merchant, financier, political counselor, social leader, and public servant, he holds and has long held a place of especial honor. He comes of that sturdy Devonshire stock which did so much for old England's greatness, and is descended from some of those Pm-itan colonists who laid in New England unsurpassed foundations for a Greater Britain on this side of the sea. His earliest American ancestor came to these shores in 1633, and settled at Weymouth, Massachu- setts, afterward becoming one of the founders of Rehoboth, in the same colony and State. The father of Mr. Bliss lived at Fall River, Massachusetts, and in that busy city, in 1833, the subject of this sketch was born. While Cornelius was yet an infant his father died, and his mother a few years later remarried and moved to New Orleans. The boy, however, remained in Fall River with some relatives of his mother, and was educated there, in the common schools and in Fiske's Academy. At the age of four- teen he followed his mother to New Orleans, and completed his schooling with a course in the high school of that city. His first business experience was acquired in the counting- room of his stepfather in New Orleans. His stay there was brief, and within the year, in 1848, he returned to the North, and found employment with James M. Beebe & Co., of Boston, then the largest dry-goods importing and jobbing house in the country. His sterling worth caused his steady promotion until he became a member of the firm which succeeded that of Beebe & Co. In 1866 he formed a partnership with J. S. and Eben 39 40 CORNELIUS NEWTON BLISS Wright of Boston, and established a dry-goods commission house under the name of J. S. & E. Wright & Co. A branch office was opened in New York, and Mr. Bliss came here to take charge of it. Since that time he has been a resident of this city and identified intimately with its business, political, and social life. Upon the death of J. S. Wright, the firm was reorganized as Wright, Bliss & Fabyan. Still later it became Bliss, Fabyan & Co., of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, with Mr. BHss at its head. Such is its present organization. For many years it has ranked as one of the largest, if not the very largest, of dry-goods commission houses in the United States, its office and its name being landmarks in the dry-goods trade. Upon his removal to New York, IVIr. Bliss became identified with the interests of this city in a particularly prominent and beneficent manner. There have been few movements for pro- moting the growth and welfare of New York in which he has not taken an active part, giving freely his time, services, and money for then- success. He has been influential in business outside of his own firm, being vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, vice-president and for a time acting president of the Fourth National Bank, a director of the Central Trust Com- pany, the Equitable Life Assiirance Company, and the Home Insurance Company, and governor and treasurer of the New York Hospital. In politics Mr. Bliss has always been an earnest Repubhcan, devoted to the principles of that party, and especially to the national policy of protection to American industries. For some years he has been the president of the Protective Tariff League. From 1878 to 1888 he was chairman of the Repubh- can State Committee. President Arthur offered him a cabinet office, but he decUned it. In 1884 he led the Committee of One Hundred, appointed at a great meeting of citizens of New York to urge the renomination of Mr. Arthur for the Presidency. In 1885 he declined a nomination for Governor of New York, and he has at various other times dechned nomination to other high offices. For years he was a member of the Republican County Committee in this city, and also of the Republican National Committee, of which latter he was treasurer in 1892. He has been active in various movements for the reform and strength- CORNELIUS NEWTON BLISS 41 ening of the Republican party in this city, and has often been urged to accept a nomination for Mayor. He was a leading member of the Committee of Seventy in 1894, and of the Com- mittee of Thu'ty, which reorganized the Repubhcan local organ- ization. Mr. Bliss accepted his first public office in March, 1897, when President McKinley appointed him Secretary of the Interior in his cabinet. He was reluctant to do so, but yielded to the President's earnest request and to a sense of personal duty to the public service. He filled the office with distinguished abil- ity, and proved a most useful member of the cabinet as a general counselor in all great affairs of state. At the end of 1898, how- ever, having efficiently sustained the President through the trying days of the war with Spain, and having seen the treaty of peace concluded, he resigned office and returned to his busi- ness pursuits. Mr. Bhss is a prominent member of the Union League Club, the Century Association, the Republican Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Players Club, the Riding Club, the Merchants' Club, the American Geographical Society, the National Academy of Design, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New England Society of New York. EMIL LEOPOLD BOAS THE name of Boas is of English origin. The family which hears it was, however, prior to the present generation, settled in Germany. Two generations ago Louis Boas was a prosperous merchant, and he was followed in his pursuits and in his success by his son. The latter married Miss Mina Asher, and to them Emil Leopold Boas was born, at Groerlitz, Prussia, on November 15, 1854. The boy was sent first to the Royal Frederick William Gymnasium, at Breslau, and then to the Sophia Gymnasium of Berhn. At the age of nineteen he entered the office of his father's brother, who was a member of the firm of C. B. Richard & Boas of New York and HambTirg, bankers and general passenger agents of the Hamburg- American Line of steamships. After a year he was transfen'ed to the New York office. In 1880 Mr. Boas was made a partner in the Hamburg end of the firm. He had scarcely arrived there, however, when he was recalled and made a member of the New York firm also. Ten years later he withdrew from the firm, and took a vaca- tion. During that time the Hambm'g- American Line established offices of its own in New York. Mr. Boas was thereupon ap- pointed general manager of the Hamburg- American Line, which office he has continued to hold up to the present time. He now has supervision and management of all the interests of the Hamburg- American Line on the American continent. He is also president of the Hambiu'g-American Line Terminal and Navigation Company. It may be mentioned that the Hambm-g- Ameriean Line, owning over two hundi-ed vessels, is probably the largest steamship enterprise in the world. Mr. Boas has acted in a semi-pubhc capacity as the represen- 42 I .^)AyuuC£^-^. EMIL LEOPOLD BOAS 43 tative of the New York shipping interests on a number of occasions, taking the lead in urging upon Congress the need of a deeper and more commodious channel from the inner harbor of New York to the ocean. He has taken a similar part in the movement for the extension of the pier and bulkhead lines so as to meet the enlarged requirements of modem shipping, and in the improvement of the New York State canals, being treasurer and chau'man of the finance committee of the Canal Association of Greater New York. Ml". Boas has found time to travel extensively in America and Em'ope, and to devote much attention to literature and art. He has a private library of thirty-five hundred volumes, largely on his- tory, geography, political economy, and kindred topics. The German Emperor has made him a Knight of the Order of the Red Eagle, the King of Italy a Chevalier of the Order of St. Maui'itius and St. Lazarus. The King of Sweden and Norway has made him a Kuight of the first class of the Order of St. Olaf, the Sultan of Turkey a Commander of the Order of Medjidjie? and the President of Venezuela a Commander of the Order of Bolivar, the Liberator. In New York Mr. Boas is connected with numerous social organizations of high rank. Among these are the New York Yacht Club, the New York Athletic Club, St. Andrew's Golf Club, the National Arts Club, the Deutscher Verein, the Lieder- ki-anz, the Unitarian Club, the Patria Club, the German Social and Scientific Club, the American Geographical Society, the American Statistical Society, the American Ethnological Society, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the New York Zoological Society, the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropohtan Museum of Art, the German Society, the Charity Organization Society, the Maritime Association, the Produce Exchange, and the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York. Mr. Boas was married in New York, on March 20, 1888, to Miss Harriet Betty Sternfield. They have one child, Herbert Allan Boas. Mrs. Boas came from Boston, Massachusetts, and is identified with the New England Society, the Women's Phil- harmonic Society, the League of Unitarian Women, and various other organizations. FRANK STUART BOND THE Bond family in England is an ancient one, its authen- tic records dating as far back as the Norman Conquest, and many of its members have risen to eminence. In the United States, or rather in the North American colonies, it was planted early. Its first member here was William Bond, gi-andson of Jonas Bond, and son of Thomas Bond of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, who was brought to this country in his boy- hood, in 1630, by his aunt, Elizabeth Child. They settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, on the Jennison farm, which re- mained in the possession of the family for more than one hun- dred and seventy years. From Wilham Bond, the sixth in direct descent was Alvan Bond of Norwich, Connecticut, an eminent Congregational minister, who married Sarah Richardson, and to whom was born, at Sturbridge, Massachusetts, on February 1, 1830, the subject of this sketch. Frank Stuart Bond was educated at the Norwich Academy, and at the high school at Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He then entered the raih'oad business, which was beginning to develop into great proportions. His first work was in the office of the treasTirer of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad, in 1849-50. Next he went to Cincinnati, entered the service of the Cin- cinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, and became its secretary. In 1856 he came to New York, and from 1857 to 1861 was secre- tary and treasurer of the Auburn and Allentown and Schuylkill and Susquehanna railroads. The war called him into the service of the nation. He was in 1862 commissioned a lieutenant of volunteers in the Connec- ticut State troops, and went to the front as an aide on the staff of Brigadier- General Daniel Tyler. He served imder General 44 FRANK STUART BOND 45 Pope in Mississippi, at Farmington, and in other engagements leading to the capture of Corinth. Then he went upon the staff of General Rosecrans, commanding the Army of the Crmi- berland. He was at Stone River, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga. Finally he went into the Missouri campaign, and served until November 18, 1864, when he resigned his commis- sion. He returned to railroading in 1868, when he became connected mth the Missoui'i, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company, then recently organized. He resigned its vice-presidency in 1873, and became vice-president of the Texas and Pacific Company, in which capacity he served mitil 1881. He then became for two years president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, in a trying time in the history of that company. From 1884 to 1886 he was president of five associated raih'oad companies — the Cin- cinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific, the Alabama and Great Southern, the New Orleans and Northeastern, the Yicksburg and Meridian, and the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific. The combination operated some eleven hundred and fifty-nine miles of completed road. Then in 1886 he became vice-president of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, and still remains in that office, with headquarters in the city of New York. Mr. Bond has not been conspicuous in public life, nor has he taken more than a citizen's interest in pohtics. He is a mem- ber of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and also of the Society of the Sous of the American Revo- lution, Union League, Union, Century, and Metropolitan clubs. Mr. Bond's life-work has been given, save for his military careei", almost exclusively to railroading, which has long been one of the foremost industries of this nation. It has, however, been sufficiently varied in its scope to give him a wide experience and knowledge of the laud of his birth, and of the people who are his countrymen. He has put his personal impress upon many important lines of transportation in various parts of the Union, and of the developments of American railroads in the last fifty years can truly say, " All of them I saw, and a large part of them I was." i HENRY WELLER BOOKSTAVER BUCHSTABE was the original form of the name now known as Bookstaver, and it was borne, in the sixteenth century, by a notable religious reformer of Switzerland, Henry Buchstabe. The family thereafter removed to Germany and to Holland, and at the beginning of the eighteenth century one Jacobus Boock- stabers, a hneal descendant of Henry Buchstabe, came to this country and settled in Orange County, New York. One of his direct descendants was Daniel Bookstaver, who married Miss Alletta Weller, a lady of Teutonic descent, and lived at Mont- gomery, Orange County, New York. To this latter couple was born at Montgomery, on September 17, 1835, a son, to whom they gave the name of Henry, in memory of his famous ancestor, the Swiss reformer, and that of Weller, in memory of his mother's family. The boy was educated at the academy at Montgomery, and then at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey. From the latter institution he was graduated A. B., with high honors, in 1859, and from it he subsequently received the degrees of A. M. and LL. D. Henry Weller Bookstaver then decided upon the practice of the law as his hfe-work. He entered as a student the office of Messrs. Brown, Hall & Vanderpoel in this city, and by 1861 was able to pass his examination and be admitted to the bar. A ht- tle later he was made a partner in the firm with which he had studied. Since that time he has constantly been in successful practice of the law in this city, with the exception of the con- siderable period during which he has been on the judicial bench. He has had a large and lucrative private practice, and has also been attorney to the sheriff, coimsel to the Police Board, and counsel to the Commissioners of Charities and Corrections. 46 ^L-^T^ ^-'X^ HENKY WELLER BOOKSTAVER 47 His defense of Sheriff Reilly gave him the reputation of one of the most eloquent pleaders at the bar of this city. Mr. Bookstaver was elected a justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1885, and had an honorable career on that bench. He was retained in that office until 1896, when the Court of Com- mon Pleas was merged into the Supreme Court, and then he became a justice of the latter tribunal, which place he still adorns. The judicial office is, of course, in a large measure removed fi-om pohtics. Considerations of poHtics are not supposed to enter into the influences which determine judicial decisions. Nevertheless, under om- system judges are largely elected on pohtical tickets, as party candidates, and it not infrequently hap- pens that an earnest partizan becomes an impartial and most estimable judge. Such is the case with Justice Bookstaver. He has long been an active member of the Democratic party, and was, before his elevation to the bench, interested in its activities. His engagements as counsel to various city officers and depart- ments were semi-political offices. For fifteen years, however, he has been on the bench, the dispenser of impartial justice without regard to party politics. Important as his professional and official work has been, it has not entirely absorbed Justice Bookstaver's attention. He has found time to cultivate litei-ary and artistic tastes, and to do much for then- promotion in the community. He has often served as a public speaker at dinners and on other occasions. He is a member of the Archeeological, Geographical, and Histor- ical societies of this city, and also of the Metropohtan Museum of Art and of the Museum of Natural Historj-. He has retained a deep interest in the welfare of his Alma Mater, Rutgers Col- lege, and is a member of its board of trustees. Justice Bookstaver is a member of the Manhattan, St. Nicho- las, and Zeta Psi clubs of this city, and was one of the founders of the last-named. He is also a member of the Casino Club of Newport, Rhode Island. He was married, on September 6, 1865, to Miss Mary BayHss Yoimg of Orange County, New York. HENUY PROSPER BOOTH ONE of the foremost names in the shipping world of New York to-day is that of Henry Prosper Booth, long identi- fied with the famous " Ward Line " of steamships. He is of New England ancestry, and was born in New York city on July 19, 1836. His education was acquired in local schools and in the Mechanics' Institute, and was eminently thorough and practical. His business career was begun as a clerk for a firm of shipping merchants, and thus was begun his lifelong alliance and identifi- cation with the commercial interests of the port of New York. In 1856 he was admitted to partnership in the firm of James E. Ward & Co., and in time became the head of that firm, and finally president of the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Line, commonly known as the " Ward Line." He is a member of the Manhattan and Colonial clubs of New York, and is weU known in social circles. The dominant feature of his busy life, however, has been his devotion to shipping and commercial interests, and the true and characteristic record of his life is found in the great cormnercial establishment of which he is the head and of which he has long been the directing force. The Ward Line is one of the most important fieets of coast- wise steamships in the world. Its home port is New York. From New York its swift, stanch vessels ply with the regularity of shuttles in a loom to the Bahamas, Cuba, and Mexico. They touch at numerous ports of Cuba and all the Gvilf ports of Mexico, and with their extensive railroad connections afford access to all parts of those countries. There are practically four distinct routes from New York, and many more short side routes in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, in aU covering about ten thousand miles of service. 48 a^<:5^/^^^ HENRY PROSPER BOOTH 49 The fleet comprises the steamers Havana and Mexico, of 6000 tons each ; the VujUancia and Seguranca, of 4115 tons each ; the Yucatan and Orizaba, of 3500 tons each ; the Matanzas, of 3100 tons ; and the Saratoga, City of Washington, Santiago, Niagara, Cienfmgos, Cittj of San Antonio, Santiago de Ctiha, Hidalgo, Cometa, Hebe, Juno, Manteo, Edwin Bailey, Atlantica, and Moran, of from 2820 tons down. At this writing there are under con- struction two more steamships of 5000 tons each and one of 7000. The steamers of the Ward Line embrace as stanch and com- fortable ships as are in service from any part of the world. They are new full-powered steamers, of most modern construc- tion, built expressly for the service, and they offer aU the liixu- ries of travel, including a most excellent and well-maintained cuisine, large and well-ventilated state-rooms, perfect beds, electric hghts, handsome smoking-rooms and social halls, baths and barber shops, and all details necessary to insure comfort to the traveler in the tropics. The freight facilities of these steamers have also been carefully provided for, and they are equipped with necessary appHances to provide not only for heavy machinery, etc., but also for fresh vegetables, fresh beef, etc., which places them in the lead of all means of transportation for rapidly advancing commercial indus- tries between this country and its Southern neighbors. SIMON BORG A FINE example of the " self-made " man is found in Simon Borg, the well-known banker and railroad president. He is of Grerman origin, having been born on Api"il 1, 1840, at Haupersweiler, a village in the Rhine Province of Prussia. His father, Model Borg, was a merchant, and was of Grerman birth, though his ancestors came from Holland and, still earlier, from Sweden. His mother, Babetta Borg, was of pure Grerman stock. Simon Borg was educated in Gennany until he was fourteen years old. Then he was left an orphan, both his parents dying within about fifteen months. He was the eldest of four chil- dren, and was largely thrown upon his own efforts for support. For a couple of years he remained in Germany, seeking to find a promising opening in some business, but without success. He then decided to emigrate to the United States. This he did, landing in New York, and thence proceeding to Memphis, Ten- nessee. At Memphis he apprenticed himself to the firm of N. S. Bruce & Co., carriage manufacturers, in the trimming department, and from his seventeenth to his twenty-first year worked at the trade. His wages were two dollars and a half a week the first year, three dollars and a half a week the second year, five doUars the third, and seven dollars the fourth year of his apprenticeship. He was, however, pei-mitted to work overtime and to earn extra pay, and thus he was enabled to make a comfortable living. Moreover, he received much encouragement from his employ- ers, who appreciated his efforts and took an interest in his wel- fare. After completing his apprenticeship IVIi*. Borg worked for sev- eral years as a journeyman. But the Civil War had so im- 50 SIMON BOUG 51 poverislied the people of the South that for a time there was httle demand for fine caiTiages, and he was accordingly moved to seek another occupation. He became a cotton-buyer, but in that business met with another difficulty. Most of the planters would take nothing in payment for cotton except Southern bank- notes. As these notes varied according to the financial condition of the banks, dealings in them became necessary in order to facihtate the piu-chase of the cotton. Such deahng in notes increased in volume, while it became more and more the custom to leave the purchasing of cotton to the spinners and their agents. Mr. Borg accordingly gave up the latter business and devoted his entire attention to dealing in notes. The State of Tennessee, however, imposed so heavy a tax upon this busi- ness as to discourage him from pursuing it in its simple form, and he decided to become a fully fledged banker. He accordingly entered into a partnership with Mr. Lazarus Levy, and the two opened at Memphis, Tennessee, a banking house under the firm-name of Levy & Borg. A little later Mr. Jacob Levy was also taken into the firm, and the business was successfully conducted for many years. The next change came when the State and city began to consider the adoption of legis- lation oppressive to private banking enterprises. Messrs. Levy & Borg then, in self-protection, applied to the State for a State bank charter, and thus established the Manhattan Bank of Memphis. Under this name the business went on prosperously for a time. Then it was transformed into the Manhattan Sav- ings Bank and Trust Company, which is still in profitable exis- tence and in which Mr. Borg still has an interest. The closing of the old State banking system did away entirely with the State bank currency and with the business of dealing in it. But at this time the Southern people were in great need of fimds, and accordingly began to sell their city and raikoad bonds. Mr. Borg's bank engaged largely in the business of pur- chasing these securities and placing them upon the market, chiefly in New York. It became necessary for some one to attend to the business in New York as the bank's representative, to sell the securities in the money market of that city, and Mr, Borg was chosen for the task. He came to New York in 1865, and since that date has spent most of his time here. In 1869 he 52 SIMON BORG established the firm of Levy & Borg in New York, and it re- mained until 1881, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and the present banking firm of Simon Borg & Co. took its place. Mr. Borg has been much interested in railroads as well as banking. For five years, during its construction period, he was president of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad. Under his direction the road was built fi'om Stroudsburg to Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, about sixty-five miles, and from Little Ferry Jimctiou to Edgewater, on the Hudson, with a double-track tunnel a mile long under the Palisades. He was also instrumental in constructing various other railroads, and in the development of the coal and coke industry at Lookout Mountain, and has served on the reorganization committees of many of the railroads throughout the United States. Mr. Borg has held no political office. Neither has he actively entered into club life. He is interested in many benevolent enter- prises, however, being president of the Home for Aged and Lifirm Hebrews, a trustee of the United Savings Bank, a member of the Board of Trade and Transportation, and similarly connected with the Mount Sinai Hospital, the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invahds, the Hebrew Technical Institute, the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Charity Organization Society, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Postgraduate Hospital, the New York Juvenile Asylum, the Children's Aid Society, the Dewey Arch Committee, and many others. He was married, on August 10, 1870, to Miss Cecilia Lichten- stadter of New York, who has borne him seven children : Morti- mer S., Sidney C, Myron I., Walter B., Beatrice C, Edith D., and Elsie H. Borg. He declares that what success he has had in life is largely to be attributed to the good influence and wise counsel of his wife, and to the happy domestic life which she has created for him, and to the fact that he has taken pleasm*e in the faithful performance of his daily duties. ARCHER BROWN A BOUT the time of the Revolutionary War, or a little before J\- it, two famDies, named respectively Brown and Phelps, came from England, settled in Connecticut, and then migrated as pioneers to what is now the central part of New York State. Thomas Brown, a member of the one, became a member of the New York Legislature from Chenango County. He was blessed with no less than sixteen children, of whom the youngest was E. Huntington Brown, a farmer of Otsego County. Elisha Phelps, a member of the other family named, was a farmer who, because of his enthusiasm in Whig politics, left his crops un- harvested and took the stump to speak and sing for " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too ! " His daughter, Henrietta Phelps, became the wife of E. Huntington Brown, but was soon left a widow with a six-months-old boy, the subject of this sketch. Some years later she married Hiram Adams of FHnt, Michigan, and removed to the latter place. Archer Brown was born near the village of New Berlin, Otsego County, New York, on March 7, 1851. In 1859 he was taken by his mother, as above stated, to Fhnt, Michigan, and was pre- pared for college in the schools of that place. In 1868 he en- tered the University of Michigan, and four years later was graduated with the degree of A. B. During his college life he showed a strong inclination toward literary and joiu-nahstic work, and was one of the editors of the " University Chronicle." On leaving the college in 1872, Mr. Brown decided to enter the newspaper profession. He accx^rdingly went down to Cincinnati and became attached to the staff of the Cincinnati "Gazette," then controlled by Richard Smith. He was successively telegraph editor, correspondent, reporter, and managing editor, holding the 53 54 ARCHER BROWN last-named place for five years, ending in 1880. In 1874 lie wrote a history of the famous Woman's Temperance Crusade in Ohio, from which he reaUzed enough money to pay for a European trip. Dui-ing his hfe in the " Gazette " ofl&ce he served as correspondent for the New York " Times " and Chicago " Tribune." In the fall of 1880 Mr. Brown gave up newspaper work, and joined W. A. Rogers in forming the pig-iron firm of Rogers, Brown & Co. of Cincinnati. His capital was eight thousand dollars, the savings of his years of newspaper work. The firm identified itself with the new iron district then being developed in Alabama, and prospered. It soon estabhshed a branch in St. Louis, then another in Chicago, and later six more in other lead- ing cities. In 1890 an enlargement and reorganization of the firm took place, Mr. Rogers going to Buffalo, New York, to take charge of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company as president. Five years later Mr. Brown came to New York to dii'ect the affairs of the firm in the East. At the present time the firm is reputed to handle about one third of the iron marketed in the United States. Mr. Brown is vice-president of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company, chau-man of the executive committee of the Em- pire State Steel and Iron Company, and a director of the Piano Manufacturing Company of Chicago. He has held no political ofiice, save that of member of the School Board of Avondale, Cincinnati. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Cin- cinnati, the Lawyers' Club of New York, the Essex County Club, New Jersey, and is president of the Mosaic Club of East Orange, New Jersey. He removed his home to East Orange in 1896. He was married, on June 29, 1880, to Miss Adelaide Hitchcock, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Luke Hitchcock, of Hitch- cock & Walden, the Methodist Book Concern firm of Cincinnati. They have four children : Archer H., Lowell H., Marjorie, and Constance. CXo_ ALONZO NORMAN BURBANK IT is not only in new lands and places that great new enter- prises are undertaken. Vast is the development and wonder- ful is the enterprise of our Western States, beyond all question But in the oldest States of the East, even of that New England which is now so old, we may find energy and enterprise, and op- portunity too, equally great. Many of the pushing, successful men of the West have gone thither from the East, or are sons of those who did so. But those who remain behind in New England and the Middle States are not lacking in the same success-compel- ling qualities. We shall find that in these old States some of the greatest of the new enterprises have been conceived, organized, and developed into full success, and that by those who began life in the more quiet and conservative ways of their ancestors. There is, for example, no more settled and conservative State than the old commonwealth of New Hampshire. Its citizens have for generations been pursuing their routine ways of agri- culture, manufactures, and shipping. Its name is not identi- fied with " hustling " or " booms " ; yet we shaU find some of its citizens taking leading parts in some of the greatest new enter- prises of the day. Peleg N. Burbank, in the last generation, was a steady and successful shoe manufacturer at Franklin, New Hampshire. To him and his wife, Sarah, was born, at that place, on October 9, 184:3, a son, to whom the name of Alonzo Noi-man Burbank was given. The boy was sent to the common school at Franklin, and then to the local high school or academy. These were excel- lent institutions, as were most New England schools, though, of course, not of collegiate rank. Young Burbank was an apt scholar, and learned, with practical thoi-oughness, all there was 55 56 ALONZO NORMAN BUEBANK to learn in those schools, and a great deal besides from inquiry and observation outside of the school-room. His training was not, however, of a professional type, and he was apparently des- tined to enter some such occupation as his father's. His first work, indeed, was in his father's factory, and consisted of the simple task of putting strings and laces into shoes. That was work he was able to do in his childhood. Later he became a clerk in a local store, dealing out dry-goods, groceries, and what not, to the rural customer. From the counter of the " general store " he went to the railroad, and became a brake- man, and then a station agent and telegraph operator. Such have been the occupations of thousands of New England youths who have never risen to more lucrative or important places. There was httle to indicate that this one was to make a " new departure." But he presently did so. From the railroad he went to a paper-mill, as bookkeeper. That was in the old days of paper-making, when the materials used were linen, straw, old paper, etc. But the trade was on the verge of a mighty revolution, of which New England and New York were to be the chief scenes. The experiment of making paper from wood was essayed. At first success seemed doubtful. But persistence won the day. It was found that paper could be made thus, with a promise of far greater cheapness than from any other material. The vast spruce and hemlock forests with which the New England hills were clothed thus became store- houses of raw material, while close at hand, in the unfaiUng mountain streams, lay the water-power that would transfer the logs into pulp and then into sheets of paper. The first process was to reduce the logs to pulp by grinding mechanically. Later, the same end was attained by chemical treatment. Thus, within the last quarter of a century, the paper trade of the country, and indeed of the world, has been completely revolutionized. Nor is it merely the paper trade, in itself, that is thus revolu- tionized. The publishing trade in all its branches is equally affected. The reduction of the price of paper stock to a small fraction of what it formerly was, has made possible the reduction in price of newspapers, magazines, and books, in a manner not dreamed of a generation ago. This has caused an enormous increase in the circulation and sale of pubhcations of all kinds, ALONZO NOKMAN BUBBANK 57 and a conunensurately wider diffusion of knowledge and exten- sion of those influences which are exerted through the agency of the printing-press. In brief, this great cheapening of paper is to be ranked second only to the invention of printing itself. It has been Mr. Burbank's lot to play a prominent part in this work, and last of all to be a member of the gigantic corporation which has combined within itself a large proportion of the paper- manufacturing business of the North American Continent. To this his clerkship in the paper-mill directly led. Without enu- merating all the successive steps in his advancement it will suf- fice to say that he has been treasurer of the Fall Mountain Paper Company, and an officer also of the Winnipiseogee Paper Com- pany, the Green Mountain Pulp Company, the Mount Tom Sul- phite Company, and the Garvin's FaUs Company. Finally, when a short time ago the International Paper Company was organ- ized, including within itself more than a score of the leading paper, pulp, and sulphite works in the country, and dominat- ing the major part of the paper trade of America, Mr. Biu'bank became an active and influential member of it. . In addition to these interests, Mr. Burbank is a director of the International Ti-ust Company of Boston, and of the Mercantile Trust Company of the same city. Mr. Biu-bank now makes his home in New York, and is here a member of the Metropolitan and Colonial clubs. He is also a member of the Algonquin, Temple, and Exchange clubs of Boston, and of the Westminster Club of Bellows Falls, Ver- mont. Mr. Burbank was married in 1865, at Andover, New Hamp- shire, to Miss Anna M. Gale. They have four children : Etta M., Frederick W., Margaret H., and Harriet. ^iP SAMUEL ROGER CALLAWAY THE executive head of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, which forms the backbone of one of the greatest railroad systems in the world, is perhaps as typical a " raih-oad man" as can anywhere be found. He has been a rail- road man all his business life. He started at the bottom of the ladder, and step by step, through sheer energy, industry, and integrity, has made his way to the top. At middle age he stands at the head of and the acknowledged master of one of the greatest business enterprises of the nineteenth century. Samuel Roger Callaway is of Scotch ancestry and of Canadian birth. He was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, on December 2-4, 1850, and was educated in the local pubhc schools. While yet a mere boy, however, he began railroad work in the employ of the Grrand Trunk Raih'oad of Canada. He was only thirteen years old when, in 1863, he fiUed a junior clerkship in the auditor's office of that corporation. His fli'st salaiy was eight dollars and thirty-three cents a month. For eleven years he remained in the service of the Grand Trunk, in which time he became proficient in many departments of railroad work. Mr. Callaway came to the United States in 1874 to act as superintendent of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad. The president of that road was C. C. Trowbridge, and it is interesting to recall that he one day gave Mr, Callaway a note of introduc- tion to Commodore CorneUus Vanderbilt, in which he said that Mr. Callaway was the kind of man for whom the Vander- bilts would have use some day. But not at once was Mr. Calla- way to realize that prophecy. He went from the Detroit and Milwaukee road to the Grand Trunk, and had charge of its hues west of the St. Clair River. Next he was president of the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad, and then vice-president 5S SAMUEL ROGER CALLAWAY 59 and general manager of the Union Pacific. During the con- struction period of the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Rail- road he was its president, and afterward he was its receiver. It was from this latter place that he went into the service of the gi'eat Vanderbilt railroad system. He was fii'st called to become president of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis or "Nickel Plate" Railroad. This was in 1895. John Newell, president of the Lake Shore Railroad, had died, D. W. Caldwell, president of the " Nickel Plate," had been promoted to succeed him, and Mr. Callaway was made Mr. Caldwell's successor. Upon Mr. Caldwell's death, Mr. Callaway was chosen to succeed him again, as president of the Lake Shore Railroad. Thus he was at the same time president of those two roads, and also of the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Raih'oad. This was in August, 1897. While Mr. Callaway was holding these offices, Chauncey M. Depew, president of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, resigned his place to become chairman of the combined boards of directors of all the Vanderbilt roads, and Mr. Calla- way was promptly elected to succeed him on March 30, 1898. He at the same time, by virtue of the latter election, assumed executive control of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad and a number of minor lines. Thus he became the immediate head of the gigantic railroad system with which his name is now inseparably connected, and the prophecy of Presi- dent Trowbridge, made twenty -fom* years previously, was strik- ingly fulfilled. Mr. Callaway's capacity for work is prodigious. He is syste- matic, careful, reticent, yet straightforward and frank in all that he has to say. He is prompt and decisive, and a strict dis- ciphnarian, yet popular with his suboi'dinates, for the reason that, like all real leaders of men, he subjects himself to the same discipline that he imposes upon them. He is genial, and makes and holds many friends. His social side is as charming and attractive as his business side is masterful and successful. Mrs. Callaway has borne to him a daughter and two sons. The family had just settled in a fine home in Cleveland, Ohio, when Mr. Callaway was called to New York. Their home is now in the latter city, and it is a well-known center of delightful hospitahty. JUAN MANUEL CEBALLOS ALTHOUGH the Spaniards planted no colonies on the North Jl\. American continent north of the Floridas, there is a con- siderable sprinkling of their race in the northern parts of the United States, and especially in the city of New York. Some of these Spanish residents and citizens are of comparatively recent immigration to these shores, whUe others, of the purest blood, have been settled here for several generations. Among them are not a few who occupy the foremost rank in business affairs and in social life. Conspicuous among these is Juan Manuel Ceballos, who, while a native of New York city, may be taken as a representative Spaniard. Indeed, he is peculiarly representative of all Spain, for his father, Juan M. Ceballos, long estabhshed in New York as a merchant, came from Santander, in the north of Spain, while his mother, whose maiden name was Juana Sanchez de Herrera, came from Malaga, in the southern j^art of the peninsula. Of this parentage Mr. Ceballos was bom in New York on September 19, 1859. He was educated at the then famous Charlier Institute, up to the age of fifteen years. Being an apt scholar, and matming early, as is the rule with the Southern Latin races, he then left school and entered his father's office to begin the career of a merchant. There he showed an aptitude similar to that displayed at school, and consequently soon mas- tered the details of the business and won promotion. Before he was twenty-one years old he was invested with full power of attorney, and was admitted into the fiim as a partner. Mr. Ceballos continued to be his father's partner until the death of the latter, which occurred in 1886. Thereupon Mr. Ceballos, who was then only twenty-seven years old, became the 60 4^~pCyC^^ JUAN MANUEL CEBALL08 61 head of the business and assumed entire charge thereof. Shortly afterward he founded the India Wharf Brewing Company, and the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company, and began the development of important industiial and commercial interests in Cuba. At the present time Mr. Ceballos is president of the India Wharf Brewing Company, of the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company, and of several sugar-plantation and other foreign corporations. He is also a director of the Western National Bank of New York. He is largely interested in the rehabilitation and development of Cuba, and is identified with the troLley-car systems of Havana and other important enter- prises. Mr. Ceballos is, of course, an American citizen of most loyal spirit, though he natm'ally has a strong affection for the race and country of his ancestors. When the Infanta Eulalia of Spain visited this country in 1893, in connection with the quadricen- tenary of Columbus, he entertained her and her suite as his guests. Upon the outbreak of the war between the United States and Spain in 1898 he was placed in a trying position, in which he acquitted himself with faultless tact. He promptly resigned the office of Spanish vice-consul, which he had held for some time, in order that there might not be any possibility of misinterpreting his position as an American citizen. Later, when the war ceased and the treaty of peace was signed, he entered into negotiations for the return of the Spanish prisoners to Spain from Santiago de Cuba, and earned out the undertaking to the entire satisfaction of both governments. Still later he similarly managed the transportation of the Spanish prisoners from the Philippine Islands to Spain. Mr. Ceballos has held no political office, and has taken no part in politics beyond that of a private citizen. He is a member of a number of clubs and other organizations, among which are the Union, New York, Democratic, New York Athletic, and Fifth Avenue Riding clubs. He was mari'ied, on May 10, 1886, to Miss Lulu Washington, who has borne him two children : Juan M. Ceballos, Jr., and Louisa Adams Ceballos. WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER AMONG- the scions of distinguislied New York families, no J-A_ one has achieved at an early age a more honorable position than William Astor Chanler. At an age when most young men are concerned principally with the proper fit of their coats or the pattern of theu' neckties, he was at the head of an exploring expedition in the heart of Africa, and in his later career as a member of the State Legislature, a patriot, and a soldier, he has proved himself a worthy descendant of sturdy ancestors. For the present purpose it will be sufficient to trace back Mr. Chanler's paternal ancestry three generations. Dr. Isaac Chanler was one of the foremost physicians in this country in colonial times. He served with conspicuous merit as a surgeon in the American ai*my in the Revolutionary War, and was the first president of the Medical Society of South Carolina, his home being at Charleston in that State. His son, the Rev. John White Chanler, wiU be remembered as a prominent and honored clergy- man of the Protestant Episcopal Chui'ch. A son of the Rev. Mr. Chanler was the Hon. John Winthi'op Chanler of this city. He was born in 1826, was graduated from Columbia College, and be- came one of the leading lawyers of his day. He was also a pohtical leader, being a member of Tammany Hall, and for three terms a Representative in Congress from a New York city district. On the maternal side Mr. Chanler is a member of the Astor family, being directly descended fi'om the first John Jacob Astor, founder of that family in America. The latter's son, William Backhouse Astor, married Miss Margaret Armstrong, the daugh- ter of the younger of the two General Armstrongs famed in the earlier history of this nation. General Armstrong became a Rep- 62 li/ ) Uay^ C^A^L^--l^ > WILLIAM ASTOB CHANLER 63 resentative in Congress from New York in 1787 ; a Senator of the United States from New York in 1800; United States min- ister to France and Spain in 1801—10 ; a brigadier-general in the United States army in 1812 ; and Secretary of War in President Madison's cabinet in 1813. One of the children of Wilham B. Astor and Margaret Armstrong Astor was Miss Emily Astor, who became the wife of the Hon. John Winthrop Chanler, named above. The offspring of the marriage of John Winthrop Chanler and Emily Astor included the subject of the present sketch. William Astor Chanler was born in this city in 1866, and was educated with more than ordinary care, at first by private tutors, then at St. John's School, Sing Sing, New York, then at Philhps Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, and finally at Harvard Uni- versity. In the last-named institution he pursued a brilliant career, and was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1887. Later he received the advanced degree of A. M. from his Alma Mater. On leaving college he hterally had the world before him. In perfect physical health, of admirable intellectual attainments, with ample wealth, and of unsurpassed social standing and con- nections, he had only to choose whatever career he pleased. To the surprise of most of his friends he deliberately turned his back upon the fascinations and luxuries of society, and set out to be for a time a wanderer in the most savage and inhospitable regions of the known — or rather the unknown — world. It was while he was spending a winter in Florida that he conceived the desire — and with him desire and determination were sjiiony- mous — to explore the Dark Continent of Africa. Forthwith he organized an experimental trip, a mere hunting excursion. He went to the savage east coast, and landed in Masailand, perhaps the most perilous region in aU Afi'ica. There he boldly struck inland, and spent ten months in the jungle, penetrating to the scarcely known region around Mount Kenia and Moimt Kiliman- jaro. His experiences there convinced him of his abihty to stand the fatigues and labors of such adventures, and also confirmed him in his taste for Afi-ican exploration. He accordingly resolved to make another venture on a more elaborate scale, and one which should be productive not only of 64 WILLIAM ASTOB CHANLER sport for himself, but of real benefit to the scientific, and possibly the commercial, world. Accordingly, he made his plans with much care and at great expense, bearing all the latter himself. He had only two white companions, one of them being the Chev- aher Ludwig von Hohnel, a Ueutenaut in the Austrian navy, who had also had some practical experience in African explora- tion. An ample caravan was organized,, and on September 17, 1892, the start was made inland fi-om the Zanzibar coast. The first objective point was Mount Kenia, from the slopes of which the sources of the great Victoria Nyanza were supposed to pro- ceed. That mountain was at that time all but unknown, and the wilderness lying at the north of it was still less known, save the fact concerning it that it was infested by some particularly savage tribes. The expedition also proposed to explore the shores of the great Lake Rudolph. Lieutenant Hohnel wished to explore the river Nianan, which flows into the lake from an unknown source, and, if possible, verify the conjectured existence of another river running into the lake from the northwest. Afterward it was expected to march east-northeast and visit Lake Stephanie and the Juba River, thus covering some five hundred miles of the least-known portion of the earth's surface. For many months nothing was heard from the party, and much anxiety was felt for their safety. At length a rumor reached civiUzation that the caravan was stranded at Daitcho, a few miles north of the equator and not far northeast of Mount Kenia. The nimor was subsequently corroborated by information re- ceived by the Geogi'aphical Society in London. The report stated that the climate was particularly fatal to the camels and other animals in the caravan. In one day they lost one hundred and fifty donkeys and fifteen camels. In February of the follow- ing year, Mr. Chanler, after being deserted by many of his native followers, and suffering great hardships, succeeded in reaching the coast. The caravan, when it started in September, 1892, consisted of one hundi'ed and fifty porters, twenty interpreters, cooks, and tent-boys, twelve Sudanese soldiers, seven camel- drivers, and a large number of camels, donkeys, oxen, sheep, goats, ponies, and dogs. On October 1 there were left of living things in the expedition one hundred and twelve black men, WILLIAM ASTOK CHANLEE 65 twelve donkeys, Mr. Chanler, Lieutenant von Hohnel, who had been wounded by a rhinoceros and returned to the coast, and Mr. Chanler's servant, Galvin. Notwithstanding the terrible chmate and the hardships of the journey, Mr. Cbanler's health was not impau-ed. His expedition was exceedingly fruitf id of re- sults, and many important additions were made to the geographi- cal knowledge of Africa. He discovered and mapped a hitherto luiknown region equal in area to that of Portugal. He wrote an extremely entertaining account of bis experience, entitled "Through Jungle and Desert." Mr. Chanler resumed his residence in New York, and in 1895 entered pohtical life. Somewhat to the dismay of his family, and to the surprise of all his associates, he joined Tammany Hall, and under that banner was elected to the Assembly from the Fifth District. In 1898 he made a gallant and successful fight to win congres- sional honors in the Fourteenth District, although the opposing candidate, the Hon. Lemuel Ely Quigg, was very strong in the district and had earned it the year before by ten thousand. The district runs from Fifty-second Street to Spuyten Duyvil, bounded on the east by Central Park and Seventh Avenue, and the other section runs from Fifty-ninth Street to Seventy-ninth Street on the East Side, the East River being the eastern boun- dary, the park the western. The district has a population of three hundi-ed thousand people, and a voting strength of sixty thousand. Rich and poor are to be found among the voters, and Captain Chanler, despite his wealth, won the good will of the laboring man as well as that of the capitalist. When the war with Spain broke out Mr. Chanler was one of the young men of wealth and social standing who disappointed the pessimists by being among the first to offer their services to their country. Mr. Chanler's patriotism went even further. As soon as it was apparent that the government would make a call for troops, he set about recruiting a regiment of volunteers, which he intended to arm and equip at his own cost. He was deeply disappointed when Governor Black intimated that he could not accept the regiment that was being formed by Mr. Chanler. Thereupon he left the city with a few companions, and proceeded to Tampa, with the intention of joining the staff 66 WILLIAM ASTOK CHANLEB of Lacret, the Cuban general. Before he could reach Cuba, however, he was commissioned by the President as an assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, and assigned to General Wheeler's staff. He served throughout the Santiago cam- paign, and was several times under fire, and was mentioned for conspicuous gallantry in action in General Wheeler's despatches to the War Department. On October 3 he was honorably dis- charged by dii'ection of the President, his services being no longer requii'ed. At an extra session of the Assembly in July, 1898, the following resolution was unanimously earned by a rising vote : " Whebeas, The Honorable Wilham Astor Chanler, one of the members of this body, has gone to the front with a large num- ber of other patriots from this State, and is now at Santiago de Cuba fighting the country's cause upon the field of battle ; there- fore be it " Resolved, That the Assembly of the State of New York, in ex- traordinary session assembled, sends cordial message of greeting to Captain Chanler, and wishes him and all of New York's gallant, brave soldiers a safe return fi*om the field of battle ; and be it further " Resolved, That Mr. Chanler be, and he is, gi*anted indefinite leave of absence from the House ; and that a copy of this pream- ble and resolution be spread upon the Journal." Mr. Chanler is a member of the Knickerbocker, Union, Play- ers', Turf, and Field clubs, and of the American Geogi-aphical Society. He is unmanned. One of his sisters. Miss Margaret Chanler, is a member of the Red Cross Society, Mr. Chanler, as already stated, is a Democrat in politics, as was his father before him. He has expressed himself as favor- ing a generous national policy, including the enlargement of the army and navy to a size proportionate to the nation's needs, the construction of an interoceanic canal across the Central Amer- ican isthmus, the establishment of suitable naval stations in the Pacific and elsewhere, the annexation of Hawaii, the control of the Philippines, and perhaps the ultimate annexation of Cuba, whenever the people of that island shall desire it. m J^^^ ^CAl^L t5/' "i 'd HUGH JOSEPH CHISHOLM 8~ COTCH by ancestry, Canadian by birth, true American by choice, is the record of Hugh Joseph Chisholm, the head of the International Paper Company. He was born on May 2, 1847, on the Canadian side of the Niagara Eiver, and was edu- cated in local schools and afterward in a business college at Toronto. Then, at the age of sixteen years, he entered prac- tical business hfe. His first engagement was in the railway news and pubhshing line, his business covering four thousand miles of road and employing two hundred and fifty hands. But by the time he had reached his first quarter-century he began to turn his attention to the great enterprises with which he is now identified. About the year 1882 Mr. Chisholm observed the splendid natin-al advantages offered by the upper reaches of the Andros- coggin River, in Maine, for manufacturing pm-poses, in the foi-m of an inexhaustible supply of pure water and practically un- limited water-power. For years he planned and schemed to secure there a suitable tract of land for the establishment of an industrial town. He was then in business at Portland, and made many a trip up the Androscoggin, not merely for hunting and fishing, but with great industrial enterprises in his mind's eye. In the late eighties he got control of the land he wanted, and also of the then moribund Eumford Falls and Buckfield Raih-oad. The latter he promptly developed into the Portland and Rumford FaUs Railway, which was opened to traffic in August, 1892. In the meantime, with his associates, he improved his eleven- hundred-acre tract of land on the Androscoggin and built the industrial town of Rumford Falls. When he organized the 67 68 HUGH JOSEPH CHISHOLM Rumford Falls Power Company, in 1890, with five hundred thousand dollars capital, there were two or three cabins at the place. When the new railway was opened in 1892 there was a town of more than three thousand population, ^ith great mills, stores, schools, churches, newspapers, fire department, electric lights, and " all modern improvements." The chief industry of the place is the manufacture of wood-pulp and paper. The Androscoggin furnishes an unsurpassed water-power and water- supply, while the suiTOunding forests provide the wood. The works at Rumford Falls include everything necessary for the transformation of logs of wood into sheets of paper. There are mills for cutting up the trees, chemical works for making the chemicals used in reducing wood to pulp, and paper-mills for tm-ning out many tons of finished paper each day. The place is an unsurpassed exhibition of the achievements of American ingenuity and enterprise, and a splendid monument to the genius of the man who called it into being. Mr. Chisholm is the president and controlling owner of the Portland and Rumford Falls Railway, and treasm-er, manager, and controlling owner of the Rumford Falls Power Company. But his interests do not end there. He was, before the creation of Rumford Falls, the chief owner of the Umbagog Pulp Com- pany, the Otis Falls Pvilp Company, and the Falmouth Paper Company. He is also a director of the Casco National Bank of Portland, Maine. Nor did his enterprise stop with these things. Observing the tendency of the age toward great com- binations of business interests, by which cost of production is lessened, injmious competition obviated, and profits increased to the producer and cost reduced to the consumer at the same time, he planned and with his associates finally executed such a com- bination in the paper trade. The result was the formation of the International Paper Com- pany of New York, which was legally organized in January, 1898, with twenty-five million dollars cumulative six per cent, preferred stock and twenty million dollars common stock. This giant corporation has acquired by purchase the manufacturing plants, water-powers, and woodlands of thirty paper-making concerns, which produce the great bulk of the white paper for newspapers in North America, and are as follows : Glens Falls HUGH JOSEPH CHISHOLM 69 Paper Mills Co., Glens Falls, N. Y. ; Hudson River Pulp and Paper Co., Palmer's Falls, N. Y. ; Herkimer Paper Co., Herkimer, N. Y. ; Piercefield Paper Co., Piercefield, N. Y. ; Fall Mountain Paper Co., Bellows Falls, Vt. ; Glen Manufacturing Co., Berlin, N. H.; Falmouth Paper Co., Jay, Me. ; Rumford Falls Paper Co., Rumford Falls, Me. ; Montague Paper Co., Turner's Falls, Mass. ; St. Maurice Linuber Co., Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada. ; Webster Paper Co., Orono, Me. ; Plattsburg Paper Co., Cadyville, N. Y. ; Niagara Falls Paper Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y. ; Ontario Paper Co., Watertown, N. Y. ; Lake George Paper Co., Ticon- deroga, N. Y. ; Winnipiseogee Paper Co., Franklin Falls, N. H. ; Otis Falls Paper Co., Chisholm, Me. ; Umbagog Pulp Co., Liver- more Falls, Me. ; Russell Paper Co., Lawrence, Mass. ; Haverhill Paper Co., Haverhill, Mass. ; Turner's Falls Paper Co., Turner's Falls, Mass. ; C. R. Remington & Sons Paper Co., Watertown, N. Y. ; Remington Paper Co., Watertown, N. Y. ; Ashland Mills, Ashland, N. H. ; Rumford Falls Sulphite Co., Riimford Falls, Me. ; Piscataquis Paper and Pulp Co., Montague, Me. ; Moose- head Pulp and Paper Co., Solon, Me. ; Lyons Falls Mills, Lyons Falls, N. Y. ; Milton MiUs, Milton, Vt. ; Wilder Mills, Olcott Falls, Vt. These various mills produce about seventeen hundred tons of finished paper a day. The company holds the title to more than seven hundred thousand acres of spruce woodland in the United States and license to cut on twenty-one hundi'ed square miles in Quebec, Canada. Mr. Chisholm is the president of this corporation. Though he has held no public office, he has taken a keen interest in public affairs, and is an earnest member of the Repubhcan party and upholder of its principles. He was married at Portland, Maine, in 1872, to Miss Henrietta Mason, daughter of Dr. Mason of that city, and has one sou, Hugh Chisholm. WILLIAM BOURKE COCKRAN THE legend of the Blarney stone may be a legend and nothing more ; but beyond question the Irish race is gifted in a high degree with persuasive eloquence of speech. Some of the most famous orators of the British Parliament have hailed from the Emerald Isle, and in the short-lived Irish Parliament on College Green there were not a few orators of exceptional power. Irish- men in America, too, have been heard from the pubUc platform to signal purpose. And thus it is entirely fitting that one of the most popular and effective pohtical orators of the day in New York should be a man of Irish birth. WiUiam Bourke Cockran was born in Ireland on February 28, 1854. He was educated partly in Ireland and partly in France, and at the age of seventeen, in 1871, came to the United States, landing at New York. His first occupation in this country was as a teacher in a pri- vate academy. Later he was the principal of a pubhc school in Westchester County, near New York city. Meantime he dili- gently improved his knowledge of law, and in due time was ad- mitted to practice at the bar. In that profession he has attained marked success, ranking among the leaders of the bar of New York. Among the noted cases in which he has been engaged may be recalled that of the Jacob Sharp " Boodle Aldermen," and that of Kemmler, the murderer who was the first to be put to death by electric shock in the State of New York. Early in his career Mr. Cockran became interested in politics in New York city. He was a Democrat, and was a prominent member and leader of Tammany Hall. His power as a speaker made him a force in public meetings and at conventions. He first became prominent in politics in 1881, and in 1890 he was 70 'm- WILLIAM BOURKE COCKRAN 71 elected to Congress from a New York city district as a Tammany Democrat. He had made a notable speech in the National Democratic Convention in 1884, opposing the nomination of Grover Cleveland for the Presidency, and had thereby won a national reputation which fixed much attention upon his appear- ance at Washington. In Congress he had a successful career, but found the place not altogether to his liking. He served for six years, but in 1894 declined a further reelection, in order to attend to his private interests. At the National Democratic Con- vention of 1892 he again oj^posed the nomination of Mr. Cleveland in a speech of gi'eat power. Mr. Cockran practically withdrew from Tammany Hall in 1894, and thereafter for a time was an independent Democrat. In the Presidential campaign of 1896 Mr. Cockran, with thou- sands of other Democrats, as a matter of principle, openly repu- diated Mr. Bryan's free-silver platform and supported the Repub- lican candidate for President, Mr. McKinley. Mr. Cockran was a frequent and most effective speaker in that campaign, and con- tributed much by his persuasive and convincing eloquence to the phenomenal size of the majority by which Mi*. McKinley carried the State of New York. Mr. Cockran was married, in 1885, to Miss Rhoda E. Mack, the daughter of John Mack. She had a fine fortune in her own right, and became a social leader at the national capital when Mr. Cockran was in Congress. In 1893 her health began to fail, and various visits to places of sanatory repute failed to check the progress of the malady. She died in New York on February 20, 1895. WILLIAM NATHAN COHEN " XT7AIT till you come to forty year " was the genial satirist's ▼ T injunction to thoughtless youth. The mentioned age is one at which a man should still be young, though fixed in character and in estate. Beyond it lie many possible achieve- ments, and what is gained at forty is not necessarily to be taken as the full measure of a man's doings. In the present case we shall observe the career of one who began work at an early age and in the humblest fashion, who, by dint of hard work, privations, and inflexible determination, made his way steadily upward, and who, at exactly " forty year," attained official rank which placed him at the head of his chosen profession. William Nathan Cohen, sou of Nathan and Ernestine Cohen, was born in this city on May 7, 1857. His father was a German, whose ancestors had come from Bavaria, and he followed the business of a diy-goods merchant. William was first sent to the public schools of the city, and then became a clerk in the office of Morrison, Lauterbach & Spingam. He began this work at the age of thirteen years, and remained in the same office until he was seventeen. Then he determined to acquire a higher educa- tion which would fit him for a learned profession. In four months of private study he fitted himself for the highest class in Ejmball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire, and after a year in that institution he entered Dartmouth College, selecting it because it seemed most accessible to a youth of his limited means. During his whole college course he worked his way, in the summer as a law- office clerk and in the winter as a school-teacher. He was graduated in the class of 1879, taking the prize for the greatest improvement made in four years. It should be added that one of his employers, Siegmund Spingam, generously assisted him in his early struggles. 72 WILLIAM NATHAN COHEN 73 On leavingc Dartmouth he came to New York and entered the Cohimbia College Law School, at the same time mamtaming his service as clerk in the office of Morrison, Lauterbach & Spin- garn. Two years later, in 1881, he was graduated and admitted to the bar, and on the death of Mr. Spingarn, in 1883, he was made a member of the firm in which he had so long been em- ployed. He remained in the firm, under its new style of Hoadly, Lauterbach & Johnson, until he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court. This appointment was made by Governor Black in September, 1897, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Sedgwick. While at the bar Mr. Cohen had a distinguished careei\ Be- sides a large general practice, he was counsel for a number of business corporations and benevolent institutions, among them being the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company, the Thu-d Avenue Railroad Company, the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, the Consohdated Telegraph and Electrical Subway Company, the Hebrew Benevolent Orphan Society, and the Mount Sinai Training School for Nurses. Justice Cohen was nominated for his place on the bench in 1898, at the earnest recommendation of the Bar Association and the bar generally, without regard to pohtics. He was, however, opposed by the Tammany organization because of his indepen- dence of pohtical considerations, and was defeated in the election, to the general regret of the bench and bar. He is a member of the Bar Association, the State Bar Associ- ation, the American Bar Association, the Lotos Club, the Alpha Delta Phi Club, the University Athletic Club, the Harmonie, Republican, and Lawyers' clubs, the Aiion Society, the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, the Society of Fine Arts, the Dart- mouth College Alumni, and the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. He is unmarried. Mr. Cohen takes high rank as a lawyer, owing to his training, reading, and accurate insight into legal problems, and his career on the bench showed him the possessor of a judicial mind, a master of good English, and the possessor of that inflexible in- tegrity and impartiahty that should distinguish the acceptable administrator of justice. BIRD SIM COLER ABOUT a century ago a family named Coler came to this -Z^ country from the quaint old German city of Nuremberg, and soon became thoroughly identified with the young re- pubhc. Half a century ago its head, William N. Coler, was a leading lawyer and Democratic politician of IlUnois. He was for a time a member of the Democratic State Committee. After that he went to Chicago and became a banker, and became interested in lands and railroads in the Southwest. Finally, he came to New York city, making his home in Brooklyn, and engaged here in the business of a banker and broker. He married Cordelia Sim, a lady of Scotch descent, related to General Hugh Mercer of Revolutionary fame. Bird Sim Coler, son of the foregoing, was born at Champaign, Champaign County, Illinois, on October 9, 1868. Two years later the family removed to Brooklyn, and there, in time, the boy was educated at the Polytechnic Institute, afterward taking a course at Philhps Andover Academy. On leaving school, he entered his father's banking house in New York city, and was initiated into the ways of Wall Street. He was at first a mere clerk and secretary in his father's office, but in 1889 had so far mastered the business as to be deemed worthy of a partnership. He also became a member of the New York Stock Exchange, not for speculative purposes, but in order to conduct a brokerage business for customers. The house was a large dealer in munici- pal bonds, and to these Mr. Coler paid particular attention. He traveled extensively in the West and Northwest, examining the financial condition of the cities whose securities he dealt in, and thus became an expert authority on municipal finance, a circum- ^. /I BIBD SIM COLER 75 stance which was destined to have an important bearing upon his after career. From an early date Mr. Coler took a keen interest in politics, as a Democrat, He became a member of his ward association in Brooklyn, and then of the County Committee. For several years he was chah'man of the Finance Committee of the County Com- mittee. He enjoyed the confidence of the party leaders, and was regarded as one of the rising men of the party. In 1893 he was nominated for the ofB.ce of alderman at large, but that was a Republican year in Brooklyn, and he was defeated. He ran far ahead of his ticket, however. In 1897 his chance came again. The consolidation of the cities of Brooklyn and New York was about to go into effect, and officers were to be elected for the whole metropolis. Mr. Coler was nominated by the Democrats for the office of Controller, the chief financial post in the municipal government, and, after a hot campaign, he was elected. The term being foui" years, he is still in that office. In addition to the Stock Exchange, Mr. Coler is a member of the Democratic, Brooklyn, and Groher clubs. As his member- ship in the last-named club indicates, he is a book-lover, and has collected in his Brooklyn home a large and valuable library. He has traveled much, including several trips around the world. He is a lover of fishing, hunting, and similar sports. He is a member of one of the leading Methodist Episcopal churches of Brooklyn, and is active in all its work. Mr. Coler was married, on October 10, 1888, to Miss Emily Moore, daughter of Benjamin Moore of Brooklyn, and they have one son, Eugene Coler. FRANK W. COLER THE Coler family, which was planted in this country more than a himdred years ago, is of German origin. The ancient history of Niu-emberg reveals the fact that some of its members were wardens or custodians of the great forests of that part of the empire in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Their services to the crown were such as well entitled them to nobiliaiy distinction, but thi'ough their own persistent choice they remained commoners. In the Reformation period the family became pretty widely dispersed throughout Europe, in various lands and nations, and members of it rose to distinction under more than one govern- ment. In late years one member of it has been made a baron for services rendered by him as Medical Director of the German army. The first of the family in America settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after the close of the War of the Revolution. He had brought his wife and two sons with him from Germany. Two more sons were born to him in Philadelphia, and fi-om one of them, Isaac Coler, the subject of this sketch is descended. Isaac Coler, after his father's death, went West and became a farmer in Knox County, Ohio. His son, William Nichols Coler, was born and brought up on the Knox County farm. He served all through the Mexican War as a private in an Ohio regiment. Then he came home and studied law. He was admitted to the bar at Bloomington, Illinois, in 1849, and opened an office at Urbana, Champaign County, Ilhnois, where he soon became a leading practitioner. He was also interested in pohtical affairs, and was a personal fnend of Abraham Lincoln. At the outbreak of the Civil War 76 mm: i 4 . "U/^. vi,^r-£j^»^ FRANK W. COLER 77 Mr. Coler organized the Twenty-fifth Ilhnois infantry regiment, and went to the front as its colonel. After the battle of Pea Eidge he resigned his commission and returned to Urbana and resumed his law practice. He made a specialty of laws relating to municipal bonds and finance, and became an authority upon that branch of practice. That fact finally led him, in 1870, to come to New York city and found the house of W. N. Coler & Co., bankers and brokers, which has since enjoyed a highly prosperous career. Colonel Coler married Miss Simm of Urbana, Illinois, a de- scendant of General Mercer, of Revolutionary fame, who bore him several sons. One of these is the subject of the present sketch. Frank W. Coler was born at Urbana, Illinois, on August 22, 1871. He was brought to New York city in his infancy, and was educated at first in its schools. Then he studied succes- sively at Cornell University, at the University of Halle, Germany, at the School of Economics and Pohtical Sciences, Paris, France, and at the Law Department of the Northwestern Uni- versity, Evanston, Ilhnois. With such preparation he entered upon the practice of the law in the city of Chicago. He was a partner there of Judge Adams A. Goodi-ich and of Judge William A. Vincent. After three years of successfid practice, however, he withdrew from it and left Chicago for the metropolis. In New York Mr. Coler entered the banking house of W. N. Coler & Co., which had been founded by his father, and of which his father was head and his two brothers partners. In 1895 he became a partner in it, and still maintains that connec- tion. His father having retired fi'om active business, Mr. Coler's elder brother, W. N. Coler, Jr., became, in 1898, the head of the firm. The third brother. Bird S. Coler, was in 1897 elected Controller of the city of New York. IVIr. Coler was mai-ried, on July 7, 1894, to Miss Cecile Ander- son. They have one child, Kenneth Anderson Coler. WILLIAM NICHOLS COLER, JR. THE remote ancestors of the subject of this sketch were men of parts and substance m central and southern Ger- many. The archives of Nuremberg tell that, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, members of the family were wardens or custodians of the great forests which form so important a part of that region. Their sei*vices entitled them to elevation to noble rank, but, through theu' own choice, they steadfastly re- mained commoners. In later years the family became more widely dispersed throughout Europe, in various nations. In comparatively recent years one of its members was prevailed upon to accept the rank of a baron, in recognition of his services as Medical Director of the Germany army. The family was first settled in America soon after the War of the Revolution. The pioneer member of it settled in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, and there two sons were bom to him. One of these, Isaac Coler, removed to Knox County, Ohio, and became a farmer. There a son was born to him, to whom he gave the name of William Nichols Coler. The latter has had an interesting career as a private in the Mexican War, a law student and a practising lawyer at Bloomington, lUinois, a lead- ing lawyer and friend of Abraham Lincoln in Urbana, Illinois, a colonel in the Civil War, and the founder and head of a bank- ing house in New York city. He married a Miss Simm, who was maternally descended from General Mercer of Revolutionary fame, and she bore him several sons. The oldest of these re- ceived his father's name. William Nichols Coler, Jr., was bom at Urbana, Illinois, on July 6, 1858. His education was received in the pubUc schools of that place and in Illinois University. While he was yet in 78 WILLIAM NICHOLS COLEB, JK. 79 his boyhood his father left Urbana to become a banker in New York city, with a home in Brooklyn, and yoimg Mr. Coler, of course, came with him to the metropolis. His inclinations were toward the business in which his father was so successfully engaged, and he, therefore, entered his father's counting-house, at fii-st as an employee to learn the business, but soon as a partner. With that house, W. N. Coler & Co., bankers and brokers, he has been continuously connected ever since. His father retired from the head of the firm on November 1, 1898, and Mr. Coler, Jr., succeeded him in that place. Mr. Coler has been eminently successful in his business life, and has won the esteem and confidence of his acquaintance and of the public in an enviable degree. He has become officially connected with numerous other corporations, chiefly banks and trust companies. Many of these are out-of-town banks and other institutions. Among those in the metropohs may be mentioned the Western National Bank of New York, the Amer- ican Deposit and Loan Company of New l^ork, the Brooklyn Bank of Brooklyn, and the Fidelity Trust Company of Newark, New Jersey, which, by reason of its proximity to New Y^'ork, may practically be reckoned a metropolitan institution. Of all these Mr. Coler is a director. Mr. Coler has held no political office, and taken no especially active part in political affairs, although his younger brother, Bird S. Coler, was, in the fall of 1897, elected Controller of the city of New York for a term of four years. Mr. Coler is a member of the Hamilton Club of Brooklyn, the Lawyers', Calumet, and Knickerbocker clubs of New York, and the Essex Club of Newark, New Jersey. He was married, on February 8, 1888, to Miss Lillie E. Seeley, and has two sons : William Nichols Coler III, born in August, 1889, and Eugene Seeley Coler, born in January, 1896. gXD WASHINGTON EA^RETT CONNOR THE " old Ninth Ward " of this city was the birthplace of Washington Everett Connor — the old village of Green- wich, where his father and gi-andfather had hved, and indeed been bom, before him. He was born on December 15, 1849, and was educated at the public schools and the College of the City of New York. He was an excellent scholar, especially in mathe- matical studies. On leaving college at the end of his first year, he entered the banking and brokerage house of H. C. Stimson & Co. as a clerk, and there acquired a thorough training in the business of Wall Street, and made the acquamtanee of many leaders of finance- Mr. Connor became a member of the Stock Exchange on Oc- tober 6, 1871, and soon became a conspicuous figure in that body. Clear-headed, prompt, devoted to the interests of his clients, and agreeable in manner, he won a large number of important patrons. He soon attracted the notice of Jay Gould, and was intrusted by him with some important commissions. These Mr. Connor executed with brilliant success, and the result was that Mr. Gould, a keen judge of men, in 1881 formed a partner- ship with the young broker, under the name of W. E. Connor & Co. Of this firm George J. Gould became a member on attain- ing his majority. For many years Mr. Connor was Jay Gould's confidential representative, and had the management of most of his important operations on Wall Street. Mr. Connor was also a favorite broker of Russell Sage and other prominent capitalists. In all his operations Mr. Connor has been distinguished by his ability to keep his own counsel. When, for example, Jay Gould made his famous Western Union Telegraph campaign, which re- 80 WASHINGTON EVEEETT CONNOR 81 suited in the transfer of the control of that corporation from the Vanderbilts to him, Mr. Connor personally conducted all the operations, and did it so skilfully that Wall Street was under the impression that his fh"m was heavily short of the stock, when, in fact, it was the principal buyer of it. In the panic of 1884: it was ascertained that W. E. Connor & Co. were boiTowers to the extent of twelve million dollars, and a combination was promptly formed to drive them into bankruptcy. The attack was made chiefly upon Missouri Pacific stock. But Mr. Connor and Mr. Gould were more than a match for the Street. They not only held their own, but, when the day of reckoning came, no less than one hundred and forty-seven houses were found short of Missouri Pacific, and were forced to " cover" at heavy losses to themselves, and at great profit to W. E. Connor & Co. Mr. Gould retired from Wall Street in 1886, and a year later Mr. Connor, having amassed an ample fortune, followed his example. He retained, however, an active interest in many raikoad and other corporations. Among these are the Louis- ville, New Albany and Chicago, and the Wheeling and Lake Erie raih'oads, the Western Union Telegraph, the Credit Mobilier, the Texas and Colorado Improvement Company, the Manhattan Elevated Railway, the New Jersey Southern Railroad, and the Central Construction Company. Mr. Connor has a fine home in New York city, and a summer home at Seabright, New Jersey. He is devoted to yachting and other forms of recreation, and is a conspicuous figure in metropolitan society. He belongs to the Union League, Lo- tus, Republican, American Yacht, and various other clubs, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural His- tory, and the Metroi^olitau Opera House Company. He is a member of the highest standing of the Masonic fraternity. In 1877-78 he was master of St. Nicholas Lodge 321 ; in 1879 he was District Deputy Grand Master of the Sixth Masonic Dis- trict ; in 1884 he was Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of New York, and in 1887-89 Grand Treasurer of the same. He has also been Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of England. HENRY HARYEY COOK FROM ancient records it appears that Captain Thomas Cook of Earle's Colne, Essex, England, came to Boston early in the seventeenth centmy, and in 1637 settled at Taunton, in the Plymouth Colony, of which place he was one of the pro- prietors, and finally, in 1643, removed to Pocasset, now Ports- mouth, Rhode Island. His family in England was of noble extraction, with annals dating back almost to the Norman Con- quest. In New England the family became conspicuous for its private virtues and its energy in promoting the public weal. In the last generation Judge Constant Cook hved at Wan-en, New York, and married Maria Whitney. To them was born at Cohocton, New York, on May 22, 1822, a son, to whom they gave the name of Henry Harvey Cook. The boy was sent to school at Cohocton until his eighteenth year, and then to an academy at Canandaigua for two years, thus completing his studies. After leaving school he served for a year as a dry-goods clerk at Auburn, New York, and then another year ia the same capacity at Bath. Then, in 1844, he opened a store of his own at Bath, and conducted it with such success that at the end of ten years he was able to retire from it with a handsome fortune. Mr. Cook's next venture was the organization, in company with his father, of the Bank of Bath, a State institution, in April, 1854. Of it he was cashier, and it had a prosperous career for just ten years. Then, in April, 1864, it was organized as a national bank, and again for just ten years Mr. Cook served as its cashier, and its prosperity remained unabated. In 1874 his father, the president of the bank, died, and Mr. Cook was elected its president in his place, and still holds that office. The presidency of the bank was not sufficient, however, to 82 V^\ c^v HENRY HARVEY COOK 83 engross all Ms attention. In 1875 he came to New York and entered its financial and railroad businesses, in which he has achieved marked success. He has become a du-ector of the Union Pacific, the New York, Lake Erie and Western, and the Buffalo, New York and Erie railroads, the American Sm-ety Com- pany, the State Trust Company, the National Bank of North America, and the Washington Life Insm-ance Company. Mr. Cook has made his home chiefly in this city since 1875, his house on the upper part of Fifth Avenue ranking among the finest on Manhattan Island. He has also a splendid place at Lenox, Massachusetts, which he has named " Wheatleigh," after the estate of one of his ancestors. Sir Henry Cook of Yorkshire, England. In his houses he has large and valuable libraries and collections of paintings and other works of art. The clubs of which Mr. Cook is a member include the Union League, Metropolitan, and Riding, of New York, and he belongs also to the Metropohtan Museum of Art, the American Natiu'al Histoiy Museum, the American Fine Ai-ts Society, the New York Geological Society, and the New York Historical Society. Like his father, he belongs to the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a vestryman of St. Thomas's parish in New York. Mr. Cook was married, on September 27, 1848, to Miss Mary McCay, daughter of William Wallace McCay of Bath, New York, who for many years was the principal agent and manager of the Poultney estate. They have five daughters : Mariana, wife of Chnton D. McDougall of Auburn, New York; Maria Louise, wife of Judge M. Rumsey Miller of Bath ; Sarah ]\IcCay, wife of Charles F. Gansen of Buffalo ; Fanny Howell, wife of Jolm Henry Keene of Baltimore, Maryland ; and Geoi'gie Bruce, wife of Carlos de Heredia of Paris, France. PAUL DRENNAN CRAVATH THOSE who remember the days " before the war," the days of antislavery agitation and of the reahnement of pohtical par- ties, will readily recall the name of OiTen B. Cravath, of Homer, New York. He was one of the most earnest of antislavery men, and one of the founders of the Republican party in the State of New York, being a delegate to its first State Convention. He had come to New York from Connecticut, and his ancestors, originally from England, had hved for five generations in Massa- chusetts. His son, Erastus Milo Cravath, became a clergyman, hved for some years in Ohio, and has now been for a long time president of Fisk University, at Nashville, Tennessee. He mar- ried IVIiss Ruth Jackson, daughter of Caleb Sharpless Jackson of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, a prominent abolitionist and member of the Society of Friends, and descendant of a family that had come from England and had hved in Chester County, Pennsylvania, for six generations before him. To the Rev. Dr. Erastus Cravath a son was bom at Berhn Heights, Ohio, on July 14, 1861, to whom he gave the names of Paul Drennan, and whom, when he became old enough, he sent to that institution beloved of antislavery folk, Oberhn College. There Paul D. Cravath was graduated in 1882. Foiu* years later he was graduated from the Law School of Columbia College, receiving the first prize in mimicipal law and the prize appointment as instructor in the law school for three years following graduation. It may be added that he had gone from Oberhn to Minneapolis in 1882. and had read law at the latter place for some months, until his studies were interrupted by illness. Then he traveled and engaged in business for more than a year, not coming to Columbia untU the fall of 1884. PAUL DRENNAN CRAVATH 85 After graduation in law, and while acting as instructor in Colum- bia, he served as a clerk in the law office of Messrs. Carter, Hornblower & Byrne. That firm was dissolved in 1888, and Mr. Cravath then became a member of the firm of Carter, Hughes & Cravath. Two years later it, too, dissolved, and then the firm of Cravath & Houston was foi-med, which still exists. IVIr. Cravath has since his admis- sion to the bar applied himself exclusively to the practice of his profession, and has achieved marked success. He has been for some years counsel for the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, and several important electric illuminating companies in New York, Brooklyn, and elsewhere. His professional work has, in fact, been largely in connection with corporations. Mr. Cravath has long taken a loyal citizen's interest in pubUc affairs, and has lent his time and influence to the cause of good government. He has been conspicuously identified with various movements for political reform, but has never allowed the use of his name as a candidate for office. His only approach to office-holding was his service as a delegate to the Republican State Convention in 1898. He is a member of the Union League Club, the University Club, the Lawyers' Club, the New England Society, and the Ohio Society, and takes an active interest in promoting the prosperity of them all. In 1893 Mr. Cravath was married to Miss Agnes Huntington, a member of the well-known New York family of that name, who was at that time famed as one of the most accomplished singers of the world. They have one child, who bears the name of Vera Agnes Huntington Cravath. GEORGE CROCKER THE history of the world is rudely divided into the records of various so-called ages. There is the half-uij4hical stone age. There is the golden age, of which we have prophecy of a better repetition ia this land. There are the dark ages. And so the story goes, each era being designated according to its most conspicuous featui-e. The present age has many claims to dis- tinction for many of its salient features. Perhaps it might be as worthily known as in any way as the age of raih'oading, or, at any rate, of engineeiing. It is probable that no feature of nine- teenth-century civilization has been more potent for changing the face of the world and improving the condition of the race than the use of steam-power for transportation on land and sea, and especially on land, for the contrast between the saihng- ship and the steamship is scarcely as great as between the stage- coach and the express-train. There were also, of old, certain classes of men who domiaated their respective ages, such as the knights in the age of chivalry. There were merchant princes in the days of Tjtc and Sidon who almost vied with monarchs in wealth and power. We have to- day our merchant princes and captains of industry. But to none are we to give higher rank than to the railroad kings, who have literally cast up a highway and made the rough places smooth. They have covered the lands of the earth with roads for the facilitation of commerce, of industry, and of social inter- course. They have all but abolished time and space. They have made near neighbors of those who dwell at opposite sides of the continent. The careers of such men are supremely typical of the genius of the century which produced them, and which they, in turn, so 80 '^V- ^ GEOKGE CROCKER 87 largely shaped ; and among them, in this country, there are none more worthy of attention than the members of that remarkable group of men who developed the interests of the Pacific coast, and connected that region with the Eastern States, and with all the nation, with great highways of steel. The Crocker family is of English ancestry, and was settled in the United States several generations ago. In the last genera- tion it rose to especial distinction in the person of Charles Crocker, the son of a storekeeper at Troy, New York. He was compelled by his father's reverses in his early boyhood to take to selling newspapers and other occupations for self-support. His earnings went into the common fund of the family, which in time amounted to enough for the purchase of a farm in Indiana, whither the family removed when he was fourteen years old. Three years later the boy left home to make his own way in the world. He successively worked on a farm, in a sawmill, and at a forge, getting what schooling he could meanwhile. At twenty- three he started iron- works of his own at Michawaka, Indiana, and conducted that enterprise successfully for fom- years. Then, in 1849, gold was discovered in California, and he joined the great procession of fortune-seekers that removed to the Pacific coast. Mr. Crocker did not, however, spend much time in the mines. He opened a dry-goods store at Sacramento, which soon became the leading concern of the kind in that place, and proved highly profitable. In 1854 he was elected to the Common Council, and in 1860 to the Legislature. Then he became impressed with the importance of having railroad communication between California and the Eastern States, and in 1861 gave up his other business and devoted all his energy, abihty, attention, and fortune to the task of building the Central Pacific Raih'oad. He was one of the four men who agreed to pay, out of their own pockets, for the labor of eight hundred men for one year, and who pledged their entire fortunes to the accomplishment of the great task before them. The others were Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and CoUis P. Himtington. Each of these men played a separate part in the enterprise. Mr. Crocker was the superintendent of construction. He personally directed the building of some of the most difficult parts of the line over the Sierra Nevada, and never relaxed his efforts until the line was completed in 1869. 88 GEORGE CBOCKER Then he joined his three associates in building the Southern Pacific Raih-oad, and became its president in 1871, as well as vice-president of the Central Pacific. He personally superin- tended the building of much of the Southern road. He was also a large purchaser of land in Cahfomia, including much of the water-front of Oakland. He was the principal owner of the Crocker-Huffman Land and Water Company at Merced, and his estate now owns the assets of that enterprise, comprising forty- two thousand acres of land, a lake of seven hundred acres, and eighteen miles of irrigating canals. Late in life Mr. Crocker made his home in New York, where he had a fine house, with notable collections of paintings, bronzes, and ceramics. He was married, in 1852, to Miss Mary Ann Deming, a lady of EngHsh origin, and granddaughter of Seth Read, a lieutenant-colonel in the Revolutionary army. He left four children : Colonel Charles F. Crocker, lately vice-president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and director of the corporation of Wells, Fargo & Co., who married Miss Easton, a ni^ce of Mr. D. O. Mills ; Greorge Crocker ; Wilham H. Crocker ; and Harriet Crocker, wife of Charles B. Alexander of New York. George Crocker, the second son of Charles Crocker, was born at Sacramento, California, on February 10, 1856. He was educated at first in the schools of that city, and afterward at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, New York. After leaving the latter in- stitution, he spent some time in Em-opean travel. On his return to the United States he naturally turned his attention to the business in which his father had won so great distinction. His father's wealth made it unnecessary for him to engage in any struggle for a livelihood, but in order thoroughly to acquaint himself with the business he began at the bottom of the ladder, in a clerkship in the operating department of the Southern Pacific Raih'oad. After a time he purchased an extensive cattle-ranch in Utah and undertook the management of it. From the last-named enterprise he was recalled, in August, 1888, by the death of his father. He then joined his elder bro- ther in assuming the management of the vast railroad and other interests of the estate, devoting his attention chiefly to the rail- roads. He has, indeed, since that time, been following the railroad business with exceptional zeaL GEORGE CROCKER 89 Mr. Crocker is now second vice-president of the Southern Pacific Raih-oad Company, of which his brother, the late Charles F. Crocker, was first vice-president. He is also president of the Oriental and Occidental Steamship Company, president of the Crocker Estate Company, president of the Carbon Hill Coal Company, president of the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company, president of the Promontory Ranch Company, vice- president of the Pacific Improvement Company, and a special partner in the brokerage firm of Price, McCormick & Co. He is also interested as an investor in many other enterprises. In the early fall of 1899 it was announced that the Crocker interests in the Southern Pacific Railroad had been purchased by an Anglo-American sjmdicate of which ColUs P. Huntington was the head. These holdings, it was said, amounted to some three himdi"ed and forty thousand shares of stock, of which the value was variously stated at from ten million dollars to fifteen million dollars. It was said that the figures paid by the pur- chasers were a little above the latter amount, and that George Crocker's share of the proceeds of the sale would be something better than four million dollars. This sum he was reported to be about to invest in real estate, largely in New York, but to some extent in San Francisco and Chicago. It was also stated that henceforth Mr. Crocker will make his home chiefly in New York, out of deference to the desire of his wife. Mr. Crocker has made his home in this city for a great part of the time in recent years, and is a familiar figure in the best social circles of the metropolis. He is a member of the Metropolitan, New York, Lawyers', New York Athletic, Transportation, West- chester, and Stock Exchange Lunch clubs, and is a governor of the Eastern Fields Trial Club. In San Francisco, where he is equally at home, he belongs to the Pacific, Union, University, Country, and Olympic clubs. He was married at St. Thomas's Church, in this city, on June 5, 1894, to Mrs. Emma Hanchett Rutherford of San Francisco. He owns a home at the comer of Fifth Avenue and Sixty -fourth Street, having recently built it, where he fives when in New York. Mr. Crocker has become interested in New York real estate and business buildings to the extent of several millions of dollars. 90 GEORGE CEOCKER Mr. Crocker made, in the summer of 1879, one of the swiftest raih'oad rides on record in the United States. He was in New York when he heard of the hopeless illness of his elder bi'other, Charles F. Crocker, and was informed that only the utmost ex- pedition would offer him any promise of seeing him ahve. At the earhest possible moment the start was made, in a desperate race against time from one side of the continent to the other. It was then seen what the highest achievements and resoiu-ces of modern engineering, acting in response to the dictates of un- hmited wealth, could do. All the way across the continent phe- nomenal time was made, and on the home stretch all fonner records were broken. The run from Ogden to Oakland was by far the quickest ever made on that section of the Pacific Rail- road. A few days before, the younger brother, W. H. Crocker, had made a flying trip over it on the same errand, but George Crocker surpassed his record by some hours. Leaving Ogden at 12:49 p. M., the wharf at Oakland was reached at 9:10 A. M. the next day, the nm of eight hundred and thirty-three miles being made without a stop. A swift feny-boat bore him to the other side of the bay, where another special train was in waiting, to bear him to San Mateo. He reached the latter place to fiind his brother still alive, though unconscious. Colonel Charles F. Crocker, to whose death-bed his brother thus hastened, was the eldest of the family, being two years older than Greorge Crocker. He received an education similar to that of George Crocker, and then devoted liimself to the raih-oad and other interests of his father. He was also interested in educa- tional and other affau's, being president of the Cahf omia Academy of Sciences, and a trustee of Leland Stairford University. On his death he left one daughter and two sons. The daughter, Miss Mary Crocker, reached the age of eighteen years in the fall of 1899, and at that time came into possession of the great fortune bequeathed to her by her father and held for her by the trustees of his will. This fortune, amounting to about four million dollars, made her the wealthiest unmarried woman in California. ! JOSEPH FRANCIS DALY THE distinguished jurist whose name heads this sketch is of pure Irish ancestry. His father, Dennis Daly of Limerick, was a purser's clerk in the British navy, and afterward came to this country and engaged in the shipping trade. In Jamaica, West Indies, he met Ehzabeth Theresa Duffey, daughter of Lieutenant John Duffey of the British army, and married her in this city. Afterward he settled at Plymouth, North Carolina, in the house once occupied by John Randolph of Roanoke, and there were born his two sons, Augustin, the eminent di'amatic manager, and Joseph Francis. The latter was born on December 3, 1840. At the age of nine years he was brought by his widowed mother to New York, and was educated in the pubUc schools. In 1855 he became a clerk in a law office, and in 1862 was admitted to the bar. He soon rose to prominence, especially in the movement for reform of the municipal government. He was associated with Charles O'Conor, Benjamin D. SiUiman, and other eminent men, and drafted many statutes which are still on the books as bulwarks of good government. In 1865 he appeared before the governor to argue for the prosecution of unfaithful officials. In 1870 he was elected a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for a term of foiu'teen years, and in 1884 he was reelected for another such tei-m. In 1890 his associates chose him to be chief judge of that bench, and when that com't was consohdated with the Supreme Com-t, he became a justice of the latter, and thus served out the remainder of his term. Upon the bench Justice Daly was eminently dignified and im- partial. He was unwilling to submit to any political or other extraneous influences. On more than one occasion he refused to 91 92 JOSEPH FRANCIS DALY obey the dictates of the " boss " of the Democratic party. The latter accordingly marked him for punishment, and, on the expi- ration of his term in 1898, directed that he should not be re- nominated. Justice Daly's eminent fitness for the bench was generally recognized. The Eepubhcan party, though he was a Democrat, nominated him for reelection, and the Bar Associa- tion enthusiastically approved its action and worked for his suc- cess. He was recognized to stand for the principle of a pure and impartial judiciary. But the power of the " boss " was too great, and he was defeated, though such defeat was no dishonor. Justice Daly has long been a favorite orator on public oc- casions, and a strong friend of Ireland in her struggles for self-government. As a trustee of the National Federation of America he presented the address of welcome to the Earl of Aberdeen on his visit here in 1892, and as president of the Cathohc Club he welcomed the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord RusseU of Killowen, in 1896. He was chairman of the joint committee of the Cathohc Historical Society and Catholic Club on the quadricentenary of the landing of Columbus, and presided at the meeting of citizens on May 5, 1898, in honor of the twenty -fifth anniversary of the episcopate of the Ai-chbishop of New York. In 1889 he, with his brother Augustin, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, and others, incorpo- rated the now famous Players' Club, He is still a member of it, is president of the Catholic Club, member of the Metropoh- tan, Manhattan, and Democratic clubs, the Southera Society, Dunlap Society, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Gaehc Society, Law Institute, Bar Association, American-Irish Historical Soci- ety, American Geographical Society, Legal Aid Society, Catholic Summer School, Champlain Club, manager of the Roman Cath- olic Orphan Asylum, and member of the advisory board of St. Vincent's Hospital. In 1883 he received the degree of LL. D. from St. John's College, Fordham. He married, in 1873, the stepdaughter of Judge Hamilton W. Robinson, Miss Emma Robinson Barker, who died in 1886, leav- ing him two sons and a daughter. In 1890 he married Miss Mary Louise Smith, daughter of Edgar M. Smith. \ L. ELLIOT DANFORTH ELLIOT DANFORTH, who for many years has been promi- nent as a lawyer, poUtical leader, and pubhc official in the State of New York, was born at Middleburg, Schoharie County, New York, on March 6, 1850. His mother, whose maiden name was Am-eha Lintner, was of German descent. His father, Peter Swart Danforth, was of Enghsh descent, and was a State Senator in 1854r-55, and became a justice of the Supreme Court of the State in 1872. ElMot Danforth early manifested a particularly studious dispo- sition, and this led to his acquiring the most thorough education possible, in the common schools and in Schoharie Academy. He then tm-ned his attention to legal studies in his father's office, and at the age of twenty-one years, in 1871, was admitted to practice at the bar. For a few years he practised in his native village with much success. Then, in 1878, he removed to Bain- bridge, Chenango County, where he formed a partnership with the Hon. George H. Winsor, one of the foremost lawyers of that part of the State, and that association lasted until Mr. Winsor's death, in 1880. Mr. Danforth's legal career has since that date been marked with much success, and he has served as a member of numerous committees of the State Bar Association. Mr. Danforth began in his cliildhood to take an ardent interest in politics, and upon reaching years of manhood he became what might be termed a practical politician, identified with the Demo- cratic party. His first public office was that of President of the village of Bainbridge, to which he was elected for several terms. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1880, and was the youngest of all the New York State delegates. In the fall of that year he was unanimously nominated for Rep- 93 94 ELLIOT DANFOETH resentative in Congress by the Democratic Convention of his dis- trict, but declined the nomination. He was also widely men- tioned as a candidate for State Treasurer, Foui" years later he was again a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, and in that year's campaign gave earnest and effective support to the Presidential candidacy of Mr. Cleveland, who was elected. Soon after the election of L. J. Fitzgerald as State Treasurer, in 1885, Mr. Danforth was appointed to be his Deputy, and at the expiration of his tenn was reappointed, thus serving through the years of 1886-89. At the Democratic State Convention in 1889 he was unanimously nominated for State Treasurer, and was duly elected by more than 16,000 plurality. Two years later he was renominated for another term in the same office, and was reelected by about 50,000 plurality. Mr. Danforth was the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant- Governor in 1898, but was defeated, although leading the head of the ticket by 12,000 votes. He was a delegate to the National Democratic conventions of 1892 and 1896, chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee in 1896-98, and chairman of the executive committee of that committee in 1899. He was for several years president of the First National Bank of Bain- bridge, New York, and also president of the Board of Education of that place. Mr. Danforth is now practising law in the city of New York, and is identified with its professional and social activities. His law offices are in the Home Life Insurance Company's Building, on Broadway, opposite City Hall Park. He is a member of the Democratic Club, the chief social organization of the Democratic party, the Lotus Club, and the orders of Free Masons, Odd Fel- lows, Knights of Pythias, and Elks. In 1874, on December 17 of that year. Mi*. Danforth married Miss Ida Prince, the only daughter of Di*. Grervis Prince, presi- dent of the First National Bank of Bainbridge. She died in New York city on October 5, 1895, leaving him two childi-en, Edward and Mary. He married a second time, in New York, on Novem- ber 30, 1898, his second bride being Mrs. Katharine Black Laim- beer. '7^(2) 'J JULIEN TAPPAN DAYIES JULIEN TAPPAN DAVIE S, who ranks among the most suc- cessful lawyers of the metropolis, is of Welsh descent. His family hue is traced back to Rodic Maur, from whom the seventh in descent was the famous Cymric Efell, Lord of Eylwys Eyle, who lived in the year 1200. From him, in turn, was descended Robert Davies of Gwysany Castle, Mold, Flintshire, who was bom in 1606, and who was high sheriff of Flintshire and Knight of the Royal Oak. A descendant of Robert Davies, named Jobn Davies, came to America in 1735, and settled in Litchfield, Con- necticut. He was a man of wealth and influence. From him, in tm-n, was descended the late Thomas John Davies, judge of St. Lawrence County, New York. The three sons of the latter were Professor Charles Davies, the eminent mathematician, the late Chief Justice Henry E. Davies of New York, and Major-General Thomas Alfred Davies. The subject of this sketch is the fourth son of the late Chief Justice Henry E. Davies. He was born in New York city on September 25, 184:5, and was carefully educated. He was sent to the famoiis Mount Washington Collegiate Institute, on Washington Square, New York city. Next he studied at the Walnut Hill School, at Gleneva, New York, and thence pro- ceeded to Columbia College. From the last-named institution he was graduated in 1866, with the degree of A. B, Upon leaving college, Mr. Davies, who had already fixed upon the law as his profession, entered as a student the law office of Alexander W. Bradford of New York, and there was prepared for admission to the bar. Such admission was secured on No- vember 6, 1867. Such early entrance to the bar was due to the responsibihties which had been thrust upon him by the death of 96 JULIEN TAPPAN DAVIES Mr. Bradford. That geutleman left the conduct of his business, by vnW, to his partner, Mr. Harrison, and to Mr. Da\'ies. This made it necessaiy for Mr. Davies to seek immediate admission to the bar. He also entered into partnership with Mr. Harrison, and thus came into a large law practice. At the same time he continued his studies in the Law School of Columbia Collese. from which he was graduated in 1868 with the degree of LL. B., at the same time receiving the degree of A. M. from the college. Mr. Davies was afterward associated in practice with his father, who retired from the bench and resumed legal practice in January, 1869. Mr. Davies joined the Twenty-Second Regiment, N. Gr. N. Y., in 1863, as a private, being then only eighteen years old. He saw active service in the campaign which culminated at Gettys- burg. The law practice of Mr. Davies has been chiefly in connection with two gi'eat corporations. He has been for many years coun- sel of the Manhattan Elevated Railway Company, and carried through the com-ts a most important series of cases establishing its franchises and the principles of its hability for damages to property. He is also counsel for and a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. He is a Republican in politics, and is actively interested in the duties of citizenship and the eleva- tion of the standard of municipal administration, but has held no political office. Mr. Davies is a member of various professional and social organizations of the highest class. He was manned on April 22, 1869, to Miss Alice Martin, daughter of Henry H. Martin, a banker of Albany, New York. I? uJfA^J^^JtA WILLIAM GILBERT DAYIES THE name of Da vies is unmistakably of Welsh origin. It has been well known in Wales and the adjacent parts of England for centuries, and is at the present time a common one there, and is borne by many men of light and leading. The branch of the Davies family now under consideration traces its history back to ancient times in Flintshire, where its members were among the foremost men of their day, and the family one of the most distinguished. From Flintshire some members of it removed, centuries ago, to the town of Kington, in the Welsh- English county of Hereford, and there John Davies was born and lived to manhood. He came to this country in 1735, being the first of his family to do so, and settled at Litchfield, Connec- ticut, within sight of the hills which reminded him to some degree of his native hills of Wales. He maiTied Catherine Spencer, a lady of Enghsh ancestry, and for many years was one of the foremost citizens of Litchfield, and indeed of the western part of Connecticut. A son of this couple, also named John Davies, married EMza- beth Brown, and continued to live at Litchfield. His son, the third John Davies, married Eunice Hotchkiss. His son, Thomas John Davies, removed from Litchfield to St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1800, and became sheriff and county judge. His son, Heniy E. Davies, the fifth of the Hue in this country, be- came a lawyer, came to New York city, and Avas long a prom- inent figure in professional and public life. He was successively an alderman, corporation counsel, justice of the Supreme Court, and chief justice of the Court of Appeals. He married Rebecca Waldo Tappan of Boston, a niece of the abolitionist leaders, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, and a descendant of one of the most 97 98 WILLIAM GILBERT DAVIES distiBguished of New England families. Miss Tappan was also related by descent to the Quineys, Wendells, Salisbuiys, and other New England famihes, and also to that famous Anneke Jans whose heirs have so often laid claim to vast possessions in New York city. William Gilbert Davies is a son of Henry E. Davies and Re- becca Tappan Davies, and was born in this city on March 21, 1842. He acquired collegiate education at Trinity College, Hart- ford, Connecticut, where he was graduated in 1860, and at the University of Leipzig, Germany. In 1863 he was admitted to practise law at the bar of the State of New York, and entered earnestly upon the pursuit of the profession his father had so greatly adorned. During the Civil War, then raging, he served for a time in the Twenty-second Regiment, New York Mihtia, dm'ing the Gettysburg campaign. It was in the law ofi&ce of Slosson, Hutchins & Piatt, and in the Law School of Columbia College, that Mi\ Davies was pre- pared for his career as a lawyer. His first partnership in prac- tice was formed with Henry H. Anderson, but on August 1, 1866, the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Davies entered the service of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. The law department of that corporation was fully organized in September, 1870, with J. V. L. Pruyn as solicitor, and with Mr. Davies as his assistant. In that place Mr. Davies remained until May 20, 1885, when he became the head of the department. The law of life-insurance was then practically an unknown quantity, the system itself being in its infancy, and but few questions having been presented to the courts for decision. During the succeeding quarter of a century, with the enormous growth of that form of insurance, new problems were constantly presented for solution, and Mr. Davies, as counsel for one of the leading companies, was largely instrumental in establishing the rules of law relating to that subject as they exist to-day. He resigned his position in December, 1893, to resume the active practice of his profession, since which time he has been chiefly engaged as a referee and in street-opening proceedings, having received many appointments to such positions. His most con- spicuous service of this character was on the commission for widening and extending Elm Street from Great Jones Street to WILLIAM GILBERT DAVIES 99 the City Hall, which great public improvement was carried through in an unprecedentedly short time, thus eifecting a great saving of expense to the city, and greatly diminishing the in- jmy to the property-owners. Important as have been the duties of his profession, they have by no means monopolized Mr. Davies's attention. His ripe scholarship and finished literary style have made him a welcome contributor to current literature. His discussion of "Myste- rious Disappearances and Presumptions of Death in Insurance Cases " has been published and become a classic. He was en- gaged as a lecturer in the New York University Law School in 1891. He was one of the chief promoters of the Medico- legal Society, and from 1886 to 1889 was chairman of its board of trustees. A paper on " Medical Jurisprudence and its Relations to Life- Insiu'ance," read before the Insiu'ance Convention held at Chi- cago during the Centennial Exposition of 1893, was widely quoted and favorably commented upon by the insurance press at the time. Mr. Davies is a prominent member of numerous professional and social organizations. Among these are the New York His- torical Society, the New York Biographical and Grenealogical Society, the Medicolegal Society, the New England Society, the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the New England His- torical-Genealogical Society, the Virginia Historical Society, the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association, the Liederkranz Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Centuiy Association, and the Union, University, Lawyers', Manhattan, Tuxedo, GroHer, Democratic, and St. Nicholas clubs. He belongs also to the American, New York State, and New York City bar associa- tions, and the Law Institute. He was married, in 1870, to Miss Lucie Rice, daughter of the Hon. Alexander H. Rice, who was for three terms Governor of the State of Massachusetts. His New York home is at No. 22 East Forty-fifth Street. Lore. CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON'S American ances- try has included merchants, authors, soldiers, physicians, and statesmen. His grandfather, Charles Willoughby Dayton born at Stratford, Connecticut, became a leading merchant of New York. He married a daughter of Francis Child, of Hugue- not descent, and they had a son named Abraham Child Dayton, who was a contributor to some of the foremost periodicals of his day, and was also a leading member of the New York Stock Exchange. His wife was Marie A. Tonilinson, a daughter of Dr. David Tomlinson of Derby, Connecticut, and afterward of Rhinebeck, New York, a member of the New York Legislature and a prominent member of the medical profession. Dr. Tom- Hnson's wife, Cornelia Adams, was a gi-anddaughter of Andrew Adams, one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation, Speaker of the Continental Congress, and chief justice of the State of Connecticut. The son of Abraham Child Dayton and Marie Tomhnson Dayton, who forms the subject of this present sketch, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 3, 1846, but since childhood has lived in the city of New York and the borough of Manhat- tan. He entered the College of the City of New York in 1861, and was graduated from tlie Law School of Columbia University in 1868, and has since been a practising lawj-er of this city. From his youth Mr. Dayton has been an ardent Democrat and has taken an active part in political affairs. In the campaign of 1861 he took the stump and made many effective speeches for General McClellan. In 1881 he was a member of the State Assembly and of its judiciary committee. The next year he organized the Harlem Democratic Club, and was a leader of the 100 CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON 101 Citizens' Reform movement, which gave Allau Campbell seventy- eio'ht thousand votes for Mayor after a cami)aign of only ten days. In 1884 he was secretary of the Electoral College of the State of New York. In 1881, 1882, 1883, and 1892 he was a dele- o-ate to Democratic State conventions, and in 1893 he was elected a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention. In the last-named year he was appointed by President Cleve- land as Postmaster of New York. In that office he introduced many reforms which were appreciated by the employees, the public, and his superiors at Washington. His resignation as postmaster, on May 22, 1897, was followed, in June of tliat year, by a banquet tendered to him by fifteen hundi-ed letter-carriers at the Grand Central Palace. There is now in the New York Postmaster's room a bronze portrait bust of Mr. Dayton, the cost of which was provided by fifty-cent subscriptions from four thousand postal employees, inscribed as follows : CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON, Postmaster at New York, Appointed by President Cleveland June 3, 1893. Erected February, 1897, by the employees of the New York Post-Ofifice, who desire to perpetuate Mr. Dayton's record for efi&ciency, discipline, justice, courtesy, and kindness. In the Democratic convention of 1897 he was the most popular candidate for Mayor of Greater New York. His nomination did not suit the purposes of " Crokerism," which so dominated the " leaders " that his name was not presented, notwithstanding the imminence of a stampede in his behalf. He is a member of the Bar Association of New York city, and one of the executive committee of the State Bar Association. He is a member of the Harlem Democratic, Sagamore, and Players' clubs, the Down-Town Association, and Sons of the Revolution, and is a governor of the Manhattan Club. He is a director of the Seventh National, TweKth Ward, and Empke City savings-banks, and the United States Life Insurance Company. He was married, in 1871, to Laura A. Newman, daughter of John B. Newman, M. D., and has three children. HENRY WHEELER DE FOREST IT has long been a truism that ours is the most composite of nations. Within its borders may be found men of every tribe and nation, some of recent anival upon these shores, some descended from those who settled here centuries ago. Fittingly, too, the chief city of the nation is the most cosmopohtan of all. At least three separate nationalities contributed to its founding, while, as the principal gate of entry into the United States, it has long received the vast majority of all new-comers into the land. Conspicuous among those who have contributed to the growth of the city, and indeed one of the three founders of it, are the French, and especially the Huguenot French, who came hither with the Dutch. The De Forest family, which has long enjoyed deserved prom- inence in this country, is of French Huguenot origin. Its fii-st representative in America was Jesse De Forest, who fled from France to Leydeu, and thence came to New York in 1623. A direct descendant of his, in the last generation, was Henry Grant De Forest of New York city. He married Miss Julia Mary Weeks, and to them the subject of this sketch was bom. Henry Wheeler De Forest was born in New York city on Oc- tober 29, 1855. His schooling was begun in New York. Later he was sent to boarding-school at Deerfield, Massachusetts, and thence to Williston Seminary, at Easthampton, Massachusetts, where he was prepared for college. He entered Yale at the age of sixteen, and was graduated there in the class of 1876. From Yale he returned to New York, and entered the Law School of Columbia University, where he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1877. Upon his graduation from the Columbia Law School Mr. De 102 HENRY WHEELER DE FOREST 103 Forest was admitted to the bar of New York, and forthwith entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1878 he became associated with his brother, Robert Weeks De Forest, first under the firm-name of De Forest & Weeks, and more recently under the present title of De Forest Brothers. In addition to an extensive law practice, Mr. De Forest is or has been connected with various business enterprises, corpora- tions, and charitable associations. He was for some years president of the New Jersey and New York Railroad Company, and is a director of the Knickerbocker and Hudson Ti-ust com- panies, and of the Niagara and British-American Insurance companies, a tmstee of the Bank for Savings, and of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, and one of the gover- nors of the New York Hospital. Mr. De Forest has never been actively engaged in politics, be- yond discharging the ordinary duties of a citizen. He is a member of various clubs and other social organizations, including among others the Union Club, the University Club, the Metropohtan Club, and the Down-Town Association. He was married, on August 22, 1898, to Miss Julia Oilman Noyes. ROBERT WEEKS DE FOREST THE De Forest family in this country is of French Huguenot descent, its first ancestor here having been Jesse de Forest, who came to New York in 1623 from Leyden, whither he had fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Robert Weeks De Forest was born in this city on April 25, 1848, the son of Henry Gr. and Juha Brasher Weeks De Forest. His father was a son of Lockwood De Forest, a South Street mer- chant, and his mother was a daughter of Robert D. Weeks, the first president of the New Yoi'k Stock Exchange. After receiving a primary education in this city, Robert Weeks De Forest was sent to Wilhston Seminary, at Easthamp- ton, Massachusetts, where he was prepared for college. Then he entered Yale, and was graduated with honors in the class of 1870. Returning then to New York, he entered the Columbia College Law School, and received therefrom the degree of LL. B. in 1872. Meantime he had been admitted to practice at the bar of the Supreme Court of New York in the spring of 1871. A brief period of postgraduate study followed at the University of Bonn, Germany. Mr. De Forest began the practice of his profession in the firm with which his father had been connected, and of which his uncle, John A. Weeks, was the head. At his entry it assumed the name of Weeks, Forster & De Forest. Later he was a member of the firm of De Forest & Weeks, and since 1893 he has been associated with his younger brother in the firm of De Forest Brothers. The law practice of these firms has been general in its scope. Mr. De Forest has for many years, however, been general counsel for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, having become profes- 104 '\^ '^ ROBERT WEEKS DE FOREST 105 sionally connected with that corporation in 1874. Since 1885 he has been president of the Hackensack Water Company, and he is a director or trustee of a number of corporations, among them being the Niagara Fu'e Insiu-ance Company and the Conti- nental Trust Company of this city. He has never sought n<»r held pohtieal office, but has been prominent in various public enterprises of a benevolent or educational character. Thus he was a leader in the movement for a systematization of charitable work, and has for a number of years been president of the New York Charity Organization Society. He was one of the founders of the Provident Loan Society, an admu'able philanthropic insti- tution intended to obviate the evils of the ordinary pawnbroking system. It was fovmded in 189-i, at a time of great social distress in this city, when there was exceptional need of some means whereby the poor could raise money on temporary loans on per- sonal property, on equitable terms. Mr. De Forest was chosen the first president of it, and much of its success was due to his wise du'ection. He also succeeded his father as one of the man- agers of the Presbyterian Hospital of this city, and also as one of the managers of the American Bible Society. In 1889 he was elected a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and has ever since been retained in that place. Mr. De Forest is a member of a number of clubs, then" variety showing the wide range of his tastes and interests. Among them are the Centiu-y, University, Grolier, Seawanhaka Yacht, and Jekyl Island. He was manned, on November 12, 1872, to Miss Emily John- ston, the eldest daughter of John Taylor Johnston, president of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and of the council of the University of the City of New York. Since 1880 they have lived at No. 7 North Washington Square, in the stately old mansion built by Mrs. De Forest's grandfather, John Johnston, in 1833. Their country home was for many years at Seabright, New Jersey, but is now at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Mr. and Mrs. De Forest have foiu" children. The two sons, Johnston and Henry Lockwood, were graduated at Yale in 1896 and 1897 respectively. The two daughters are named Ethel and Frances Emily. RICHARD DELAFIELD THE Delafield family of England and America descend from the Counts de la Feld of Alsace, whose lineage is one of the oldest in Prance. Authentic records of them appear before the year 1000. The ancient castle which still hears their name is situated in a pass of the Vosges Mountains, near the town of Colmar. Pope Leo IX. is said to have rested there on his way to Strasburg. In the cathedi'al of that city were monuments to two of the De la Folds, and a perpetual chantry with a pension of two marks per annum to provide masses for the repose of the soids of their dead. The first of the name in England was Hubertus de la Feld, who came over with the Conqueror and received grants of land in the county of Lancaster. The names of his descendants are numbered among the wealthy nobles under succeeding monarchs. Many of them were distinguished at arms and rendered services to their country for which they were rewarded with lands and titles. John Delafield, born in 1647, entered the service of the Emperor of Germany, fought against the Turks under Prince Eugene of Savoy, and was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, a dignity which descends to aU his male posterity. The great-great-grandson of John, Count Delafield, came to America late in the last centmy, married Anne HaUett of Hal- lett's Cove, now Astoria, in New York, and became the founder of the American family of his name. One of his sons, Rufus King Delafield, married Eliza Bard, daughter of William and Katherine Cruger Bard. Richard Delafield is their son. He was born at New Brighton, Staten Island, on September 6, 1853, was educated at the Anthon Grammar-School, New York city, and at the age of twenty embarked on his business career 106 RICHARD DELAFIELD 107 as a clerk in a New York mercantile house. His talent for affairs soon made itself apparent, and he was rapidly advanced to the position of manager. In 1880 he founded the house of Delafield & Co., and commenced business in the California trade. The firm, which is conducted on old conservative principles, is one of the most prosperous estabhshments in New York. Mr. Delafield is at its head as senior partner and capitalist in New York, Cliicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco. He is vice-president and director of the National Park Bank, vice-president of the Colonial Trust Company, and has been president of the Mercantile Exchange. He has taken no active part in politics, except to serve as president of the New York Commission for the World's Colum- bian Exposition, and as a member of the Committee of One Hundred at the New York Columbian Quadricentennial Cele- bration. He is actively interested in the affairs of the Episcopal Church and is a vestryman of Trinity Church Corporation. His clubs are the Union League, the Tuxedo, the Merchants', and the New York Atliletic. In musical cu-cles he is prominent, having been president of the Staten Island Philharmonic and secretary of the New York Symphony societies. Among the many charitable institutions with which he is identified are the Seaside Home on Long Island, of which he is president, and the Varick Street Hospital, of whose executive committee he is a member. Mr. Delafield was married, in 1880, to Miss Clara Foster Carey of New York, whose family is one of the oldest in the city. Her great-vmcle was Phihp Hone, Mayor of New York in 1826. Dr. Kane, the arctic explorer was also a relative. CHAUNCEY I^nTCHELL DEPEW IT is probable that if at almost any time in the last twenty years the question has been asked who was the best- known and most popular citizen of New York, or indeed of the United States, a large plurality of replies, given both here and in foreign lands, would have been, " Chauncey M. Depew." Nor would the selection have been in any respect an unworthy one. In business and in pohtics, in pubhc and in private, in society and in philanthropy, — indeed, in all honorable activities of human life, — Mr. Depew has come into contact with the American public to a greater extent than almost any other man of the age, and above most Americans of this or any generation is fairly entitled to the distinction of being regarded as a representative American and as a citizen of the world. Chauncey Mitchell Depew was bom at Peekskill, New York, on April 23, 1834, the son of Isaac and Martha (Mitchell) Depew. His father was of Huguenot origin, descended from a family which had settled at New RocheUe two centuries ago, and was himself a man of remarkable physical prowess, mental force, and spu'itual illumination. He owned country stores, farms, and vessels on the Hudson. Martha Mitchell, Mr. Depew's mother, was of English Puritan ancestry, a member of the distinguished New England family which produced Roger Sherman, William T. Sherman, John Shennan, William M. Evarts, and George P. Hoar; a woman of grace and kindliness, who exerted a strong and enduring influence upon the character of her gifted son. The boy was educated at Peekskill Academy and at Yale College, and was gi-aduated from the latter in 1856. Then he studied law at Peekskill in the office of William Nelson, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. 108 CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW 109 In the year of his graduation from Yale Mr. Depew cast his first vote. It was for John C. Fremont, the Repubhoan candi- date for President of the United States. Two years later he was a delegate to the Repubhcan State Convention. In 1860 he was a stump speaker in behalf of Abraham Lincoln. His first public office came to him in 18G1, when he was elected to the State Assembly. He was reelected in 1862, and was Speaker pro tern, for a part of the term. In 1864 he was nominated by the Republicans for Secretary of State of the State of New York, and was elected by a majority of thirty thousand. In this campaign he estabhshed his place as one of the most effective popular ora- tors of the time. At the end of his term he declined a renomiua- tion, and, after holding the commission of United States minister to Japan, given to him by President Johnson, for a few months, he retu"ed fi-om politics. Mr. Depew had already attracted the attention of Commodore Vanderbilt and his son, William H. Vanderbilt. He was ap- pointed by them, in 1866, attorney for the New York and Harlem Railroad Company. Three years later he became attorney for the New York Central and Hudson River Raiboad, and afterward a director of that company. His influence grew with the growth of the Vanderbilt system of railroads, and in 1875 he became gen- eral counsel for the entu-e system, and was elected a director in each of the hues comprised in it. Mr. Depew was a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor on the Liberal Republican ticket in 1872, and shared the defeat of his ticket. In 1871 he was chosen Regent of the State University, and one of the commissioners to build the Capitol at Albany. He naiTOwly missed election as United States Senator in 1881, and declined, in 1885, to be a candidate for the same office. His influence in railroad circles had been constantly increasing meanwhile, and in 1882, when William H. Vanderbilt retired from the presidency of the New York Central, INIi". Depew was elected second vice-president, succeeding James H. Rutter in the presidency three years later, holding that place until 1898, when he succeeded Cornelius Vanderbilt as chairman of the board of directors of the entire Vanderbilt system of railroads. IVIr. Depew was a candidate for the Presidential nomination at the National Republican Convention of 1888, and received the 110 CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW solid vote of the State of New York, and on one ballot ninety- nine votes. At the National Republican Convention of 1892 Mr, Depew was selected to present the name of President Harrison, In January, 1899, Mr. Depew was elected a United States Senator from the State of New York, His appearance at Washington commanded much personal interest, and he soon won recognition as a Senatorial orator. Mj", Depew is still Regent of the University of the State of New York, an active member of the St. Nicholas Society, the Holland Society, the Huguenot Society, and the New York Chamber of Commerce ; a director of the Wagner Palace Car Company, the Union Trust Company, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the Equitable Life Assurance Society, St. Luke's Hospital, the Niagara Bridge Company, the American Safe Deposit Company, the New York Mutual Gras Light Company, and of other indus- trial companies and coi-porations too numerous to mention. He was for seven years president of the Union League Club, and on retiring was elected an honorary hfe member. For ten years in succession he was elected president of the Yale Alumni Associa- tion, and he is now president of the Republican Club. Mr. Depew married Elise Hegeman on November 9, 1871, and has one child, a son, Chauncey M. Depew, Jr. Mrs. Depew died on May 7, 1893. Mr. Depew has long been known as foremost among the hu- morous and ready public speakers of the time, and there are none New-Yorkers love better to hear. He has been the orator on three great national and international occasions — the unveihng of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, the centennial celebration of the inaugui-ation of the first President of the United States, and the opening of the World's Fair at Chicago. He was selected by the Legislature to deliver the oration at the centen- nial celebration of the formation of the Constitution of the State of New York, the centennial of the organization of the Legis- lature of the State of New York, and the services held in New York in memory of President Garfield, Greneral Sherman, Gen- eral Husted, and Governor Fenton. He also delivered the ora- tions at the unveihng of the statues of Alexander Hamilton in Central Park, of Columbus in Central Park, and of Major Andre in Sleepy Hollow. ^ ?L. .oC.^^r PZ^ THEODORE LOW DE VINNE THE " art preservative of arts " has had many worthy pro- fessors and practitioners, from Gutenberg, Caxton, and Aldus down to the present day, but none more earnest and effec- tive than the head of the well-known De Vinne Press of New York. He is of New England birth and Huguenot-Dutch and French-Irish parentage, and has served, as a true workman should, in all grades of his profession, fi-om the lowest to the highest. His father, Daniel De Vinne, was born at Londonderry, Ireland, of French and Irish parentage, but was brought to this country in infancy, and had a long and useful career as a Methodist preacher and an antislavery advocate. His mother was Joanna Augusta Low of New York, of Huguenot and Dutch descent. Theodore Low De Vinne was born at Stamford, Connecticut, on December 25, 1828. He was educated at the common schools in the various towns in which his father was stationed in the Methodist itinerancy, and finally at Amenia Seminary, Amenia, New York, which he left at the age of fourteen, to begin work. His first work was in a printing-office at Fishkill, New York, and then, in 18-14, in the office of the " Newburg (New York) Ga- zette." In 1819 he came to this city and entered the employ of Francis Hart, one of the best printers of that day. Eight years later he became a partner in the establishment, and on the death of Mr. Hart, in 1877, he became the practical head of the firm. In 1883 the firm changed its name to that of T. L. De Vinne & Co., and is now best known as the De Vinne Press. From the beginning of his career as a managing printer, Mr. De Vinne has persistently and intelligently striven to improve the appearance of books and to elevate the general character of American typography. In this he has achieved marked success. Ill 112 THEODORE LOW DE VINNE For years Ms piiblicatioBS have ranked at the head of American X^ress work, and the peer of any in the world, and orders have come to him from all parts of this and other countries from those who wish their books to be printed in the highest style of art. His influence has also extended outside of his own office, and has strongly tended to improve the general art of printing in America and throughout the world. He has been the printer of the " St. Nicholas Magazine " since it was started in 1873, and of the "Century Magazine" since 1874. The "Century Dictionary," one of the largest works ever undertaken by a printing-office, was brought out by him. In 1886 he removed his establishment to a fine building in Lafayette Place, specially designed by him as a model piinting-office. Mr. De Vinne is a prominent member of the National Typo- thet», of which he was the first president. He belongs also to the Grrolier, Authors', and Century clubs, and the Aldine Asso- ciation. He has been a writer as well as a printer of books, and, in addition to magazine articles, has put forth " The Printer's Price List " (1871), " The Invention of Printing " (1875), " Historic Types" (1886), "The Practice of Typography: Plain Printing Types " (1900), and other works. He was married, in 1850, to Miss Grace Brockbank, and has one son, Theodore Brockbank De Vinne, who is associated with him in the management of the De Vinne Press. Mr. De Vinne has taken no part in politics other than that of an intelligent private citizen, and has formed no important business connections outside of his own office. He has been content to devote his fife to the one great work of bringing the illustration, printing, and publishing of books to the highest possible perfection, and in that he has succeeded beyond the achievements of most of Ms predecessors in this or any land. A.^ ^t^c^t^ c FREDERICK WILLIAM DEVOE I FREDERICK WILLIAM DEVOE, the well-known manu- facturer and merchant, comes of a family of distinguished record which in ancient times was resident in the district of Veaux, in Normandy, and which has variously been known as De Veaux, Dtt Vaujx, De Veau, and De Vos. Its first member in this countiy was Matheus de Vos, a Huguenot, who came to New Amsterdam, now New York, for refuge and freedom. Later came Daniel and Nicholas de Vaux, and settled m Harlem, on Manhattan Island. Finally Frederick, the brother of these lat- ter, a native of Annis, France, escaped massacre by flight from home, grew to manhood at Mannheim, Grermany, became a mer- chant, and came to New York. He too settled in Harlem, man-ied Hester Terneur, owned the great Cromwell farm near what is now Central Bridge, and was a man of much note in the community. He had a son named Frederick, who also had a son of that name, who had a son named John. The last-named married his cousin Rebecca de Voe, and had eleven childi-en. One of these, John, served in the War of 1812, married Sophia, daughter of Thomas Farrington of Yonkers, and had ten children, of whom the youngest is the subject of this sketch. Frederick WiUiam Devoe was born in New York city on Jan- uary 26, 1828, and was educated in private schools. In 1843 he became a clerk in the store of his brother Isaac, at Spotswood, New Jersey. Three years later he returned to New York and entered the drug and paint establishment of Jackson and Robins, in which his brother John was a junior partner. In 1848 he became clerk for Butler and Raynolds, and ioxir years later imder- took business on his own account as a member of the new firm of Raynolds and Devoe. 113 114 FREDEKICK WILLIAM DEVOE The firm was reorganized, in 1864, under the name of F. W. Devoe & Co., a name which became, through many years, one of the landmarks of the oil and paint trade in the United States and, indeed, in the world. Apart from the great business of this firm in oils, paints, and artists' materials, Mr. Devoe for some years did a large business in the refining and sale of petroleum, under the name of " Devoe's Brilliant Oil." This enterprise was afterward carried on under the name of the Devoe Manufacturing Company, and then, in 1873, was sold to other parties. In 1890 the F. W. Devoe Company was incorporated, with Mr. Devoe as president, as the successor of the firm of F. W. Devoe & Co., and in 1892 it was consolidated with the important house of C. T. Rajmolds & Co., imder the present name of the F. W. Devoe and C. T. Raynolds Company. The corporation still occupies the large building at the corner of Fulton and Wilham streets, New York, which F. W. Devoe & Co. made the center of the American paint trade. Mr. Devoe has cared little for politics. He has, however, served the public in variovis offices. In 1880, Mayor Cooper appointed him a member of the Board of Education, and he was reappointed by Mayors Edson, Hewitt, and Grant. He resigned in 1891. While in the board he exerted a most beneficent influence upon educational affairs, and did much for the estabhsh- ment of the valuable industrial school system. Governor Hill appointed Mr. Devoe a trustee of the Middletown Asylum for the Insane in 1890. Mr. Devoe is also a tmstee of the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital. He became a director of the New York Juvenile Asylum in 1890, vice-president in 1893, and is now its president. Mr. Devoe was married, in 1853, to Sarah M., daughter of Wal- ter Briggs, who has borne him five children. Of these a son and two daughters died in childhood. The other two, daughters, are living. The family home is a charming place on Jerome Avenue, in the borough of the Bronx. Mr. Devoe has always preferred home life to club life. He is, however, a member of the Holland and St. Nicholas societies, and of the New York Microscopical Society, and he is a warden of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Zion and St. Timothy, J/ CvCcyT/^^^^ty^'^^'t^y.'^^ WATSON BRADLEY DICKERMAN ^T^ATSON BRADLEY DICKERMAN has every claim to T T the title of an American citizen, his ancestors in direct line and in all collateral branches having settled in New Eng- land prior to 1660. His father, Ezra Dickerman, was a hueal descendant of Abram Dickerman of New Haven, who was a deputy to the Connecticut General Assembly from 1683 to 1696. His son Isaac was also a deputy to the Assembly for a long term of years — from 1718 to 1757. Mr. Dickermau's mother was Sarah Jones, a daughter of Nicholas Jones of Wallingford, Con- necticut, and was descended from Wilham Jones of New Haven, Deputy Grovernor of Connecticut in 1660. Watson B. Dickerman was bom at Mount Carmel, Connecti- cut, on January 4, 1846. His early hfe was spent on his father's farm, and he was educated at the Williston Academy, East- hampton, Massachusetts. At the age of seventeen years he went West, and in 1864 be- gan his business life as a clerk in J. Bunn's Bank at Spriugfield, Illinois. BeUeving that the metropohs offered the largest chances of success, even while accompanied with the greatest hazards, he returned to New York in 1867, and engaged in the brokerage business. In November, 1868, he was admitted to membership in the Stock Exchange. In June, 1870, he formed a partnership with William Grayer Domiuick, under the name of Dominick & Dickerman. In 1899 he became associated with the firm of Moore & Schley. William Grayer Dominick died suddenly, on August 31, 1895, at the age of fifty. He belonged to an old New York family, and was a man of distinction in the business and social world. He served seventeen years in the Seventh Regiment, including 115 116 WATSON BKADLEY DICKEKMAN ten years as a first lieutenant. He was captain of the Ninth Company of the Veteran Association, and a governor of the Seventh Regiment Veteran Chib. In 1892 he, with his brothers, presented to the MetropoHtan Museum of Art the fine picture l)y Schrader, " Queen Elizabeth Signing the Death- Warrant of Mary Stuart," in acknowledgment of which a life membership of the museum was bestowed upon him. Mr. Dickerman's reputation for business sagacity, and his well- known integrity, added to other attractive quahtics of mind and heart, led to his election, in 1890, as president of the New York Stock Exchange, and his admirable administration of that important office assured him an easy reelection in the following year. He has taken a lifelong interest in politics as an intelligent and loyal American citizen, and has been consistently affiUated with the Repubhcan party, to the success of which in its cam- paigns he has often materially contributed. He has, however, never been an office-seeker, and, indeed, has never accepted nomination to any public office. He is connected officially with a number of large business corporations in various parts of the country. Among these may be mentioned the Norfolk and Southern Railroad Company, of which he is president, and the Long Island Loan and Tnist Company, of which he is a trustee. Mr. Dickerman belongs to several of the best clubs of the me- tropolis, their character well reflecting his tastes and incUnations in social matters. Among these are the Century Association, with its distinctively hterary and artistic flavor; the Union League Club, the stronghold of Repubhcanism ; the Metropohtan, a purely social organization ; and the Westchester Country Club, with its fine mingling of social and spoi-tsmanlike qualities. He was married, on Febiniary 18, 1869, to Miss Martha Eliza- beth Swift, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Phelps Swift of New York. His only son died in infancy in 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Dickerman made their residence in Brooklyn imtil 1885, and m June of that year removed to Mamaroneck, New York, where they have a beautiful country place, Hillanddale Farm, which has been their home ever since. EDWARD NICOLL DICKERSON THE ancestors of Edward N. Diekerson came from Eng- land in 1630, and settled at Southold, in the eastern part of Long Island. They afterward removed to New Jersey, near Morristown, where they became prominent and useful citizens. His grandfather, Philemon Diekerson, served one term as Gov- ernor of New Jersey, and was a United States district judge. Mahlon Diekerson, district judge of New Jersey and Secretary of the Navy under President Jackson, was his great-uncle. Mr. Diekerson is a son of Edward Nicoll Diekerson, a patent lawyer, and Mary Carohne Nystrom, and was born at Newport, Rhode Island, on May 23, 1853. He was prepared for college at the historic St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and matriculated at Trinity College, from which latter institution he was graduated with honors in 1874, the valedictorian of a large class. From Trinity he passed to the Law School of Cohimbia College, and from there to his father's ofB.ce, where his legal studies were completed, he after- ward becoming a member of the firm. Mr. Diekerson is at present at the head of the firm of Dicker- son & Brown. He is counsel for many important corporations, among which are the Bell Telephone Company, the Western Union Telegraph, the Greneral Electric, the Barber Asphalt Paving Company, the Farben Fabriken, and others. He is ofl&ciaUy connected with several other large coiporations, such as the Electro Gas Company, the Union Carbide Company, the Pressed Steel Car Company, and the American Car and Foundry Company. Mr. Diekerson is a member of the Manhattan, the Lawyers', the Tuxedo, the St. Nicholas, the New York Yacht, the New 117 118 EDWABD NICOLL DICKERSON York Riding, the Fencers', and the Rockaway Hunt clubs, the Metropolitan Club of "Washington, the Order of the Cincinnati, the St. Nicholas Society, the Sons of the Revolution, and the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. He was married, on January 5, 1898, to Miss Charlotte Surget Ogden, at Bartow, on the Sound, New York. Their infant daughter's name is Lilhan Louise. Mr. Dickerson is possessed of a striking personality, to which are due, in large measure, the successes he has achieved. He is gifted with a clear, strong mind, great energy and industry, and a wonderful versatility. He is an expert chemist, and as good a machinist and electrician as most men who make those things a profession. He is an all-around sportsman, and can manage a yacht, ride, and drive a four-in-hand with equal skill. In the practice of his profession he has the reputation of drawing the most doubtful case up to the fighting-point, and his pleadings are distin- guished for their lucidity and power. He well exemplifies the advantages of hberal education of the most ample scope and thoroughness in the prosecution of business or professional duties. He is equally at home in the discussion of a point of law, or a question of chemistry, electrical science, or higher mathematics. It is, indeed, largely because of such complete intellectual equipment that he has been so successful in the practice of his profession. He has not had to depend upon the assistance of experts in preparing and conducting his cases, but has been his own expert, and has displayed the exceptional faculty of deaUng with the most abstruse case in a manner con- vincing to the scientific mind, and at the same time perfectly lucid to the average unskilled layman. A like thoroughness and masterfulness in all the activities of life have made him an ex- ceptionally forceful figure in all relationships and associations. JAMES B. DILL PROBABLY the most iinpoi-tant phase of the economic de- velopment of the United States during the last few years has been the movement for the consolidation of the manufac- turing and mercantile firms and companies into large corpora- tions, and with that movement no one has been more promi- nently identified than James B. Dill of New York, whose repu- tation as an authority on corporation law is more than national. Mr. Dill is still in early middle hfe, having been born on July 24, 1854, at Spencerport, near Rochester, New York. He is of New England descent on both sides, his father, the Rev. James H. Dill, having been a native of Massachusetts, and his mother, Catharine Brooks Dill, a member of the well-known Brooks family of Connecticut. In 1859 the Rev. Mr. Dill removed, with his family, from western New York to Chicago, where he was installed as pastor of the South Congregational Church. When the Civil War broke out he went to the front as chaplain of the famous "• IlUnois Railroad Regiment." The exposui'e and privation incident to active campaigning resulted in his death, in 1862. In 1868 the boy entered the preparatory depai"tment of Oberlin College, and four years later was admitted to Yale, among his classmates being Arthur T. Hadley, now president of the university. Upon his gi'aduation from college in 1876, young Dill took up the study of the law, reading in an office for one year to such good purpose that at the end of that period he was enabled to enter the New York University Law School as a member of the senior class. He was graduated in 1878 from the law school, being salutatorian of his class, although coincidently with his attendance at the law lectures he had been engaged in teaching at Stevens Institute. 119 120 JAMES B. DILL The first case of importance in which he was engaged was connected with the failure of the commercial agency of McKillop & Sprague. The directors of this corporation had neglected to file certain statements required by law, and were therefore held to be personally liable for its debts. This responsibihty they disputed in court, but were beaten — or all but one of them. That one had retained Mr. Dill as counsel, and he won the case on a novel point of law. That was the beginning of Mr. Dill's career as a corporation lawyer. The opening of the era of industrial consohdation, two or three years ago, found the corporation laws of New Jersey at once the most flexible and the most equitable to be discovered on the statute-books of any State, and the projectors of the giant industrial combinations of to-day turned to New Jersey as the State in which to incorporate their new companies. The beginning of this period also found one lawyer preeminently well versed in the intricacies of New Jersey corporation law and cor- poration practice — Mr. Dill. As a natural result Mr. Dill was concerned in the incorporation of a large number of the more important consolidations, either drawing up the charters himself, or, as consulting counsel, pass- ing upon the work of other attorneys. Among the host of com- panies the incoi-poration of which he has effected, and of which he is a director as well as counsel, are the National Steel Com- pany, the American Tin Plate Company, and, latest and greatest, the Carnegie Company, with its unwatered stock and bond issue of three himdred and twenty miUion dollars. The incorporation of the Carnegie Company represented probably the most pro- nounced success of Mr. Dill's professional life, for it became possible only as the result of the adjustment of the differences between Andrew Carnegie and Henry C. Frick, the suspension of the litigation begun by the latter, and the ascertainment of a basis on which the two men and their respective associates in the old Carnegie Steel Company should enter the new Carnegie Company, in the negotiations on all of which matters Mr. Dill took an active part, receiving for his services a fee said to have been the largest ever paid to an American lawyer. 'Ml'. Dill was chah'man, a year or two ago, of a State com- mission which revised the laM'-s of New Jersey relating to banks, JAMES B. DILL 121 trust companies, and safe-deposit companies ; he is a director of the North American Trust Company of New York, and of the People's Bank of Orange, New Jersey, vice-president of the Savings Investment and Trust Company of East Orange, New Jersey, and chairman of the executive committee of the Corj.)ora- tiou Trust Company of New Jersey. He is also a director in more than thirty additional companies. He has been counsel for the Merchants' Association of New York since the organization of that active and influential body, and for twenty years has been counsel to the Loan Relief Association of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York city. Despite the drafts made upon his time and his strength by his corporation practice, Mr. Dill contrives to find opportunity for work on collateral lines also. "Dill on New Jersey Coi-pora- tions," of which book he is the author, is the standard authority upon the subject. The Financial Laws of New Jersey are in part his handiwork, and he has also annotated and compiled for the State its banking laws and general corporation laws. Mr. Dill was one of the framers of the Coi"poration Act, prepared for New York upon the suggestion of Governor Roosevelt, the New York Business Companies Act of 1900, and early in 1900 was called upon by the government of Quebec to assist in framing a similar act for that Canadian province. He has also delivered addresses before economic and scientific bodies and at colleges on the subject of the so-called " trusts," pointing out in these addresses the dis- tinctions between the honest and dishonest " tmsts," and vu'ging compulsory publicity as to methods of operation as the most efficacious remedy for " trust evils," Mr. DiU married, in October, 1880, Miss Mary W. Hansell of Philadelphia, and has three daughters. Their home is at East Orange, New Jersey, and they also have a summer cottage at Hunting-ton, Long Island, and a camp in the Rangeley region in Maine. Mr. Dill is a member of the Lawyers' Club and the Merchants' Club of New York, president of the Orange Riding Club of Orange, New Jersey, and a member of the Essex County Countiy Club. The style of his law firm is Dill, Bomeisler & Baldwin, with offices at No. 27 Pine Street, New York. LOUIS R DOYLE THE lawyers of New York hold an important position among its influential men, not only by their work in the courts, but quite as much by their share in guiding great commercial and financial transactions. Louis F. Doyle has a recognized i^lace among the successful lawyers of his native city, and among its prominent men. Bom in the city of New York, on June 7, 1861, the son of James Doyle and his wife, Lucinda M. Loss, both also natives of the city, and the former long engaged in mercantile pursuits there, Louis F. Doyle, before he came of age, had chosen his career and entered himself as a student in the Law Department of the University of the City of New York. Before and during his course at the law school, he was also a student in the office of Douglass & Minton, a fii'm doing a large commercial business, and counsel for R. G. Dun & Co. of the weU-known mercantile agency. In this office Mr. Doyle not only had wide experience in the practice of law, but also laid the foundation of that prac- tical acquaintance with business which is so necessary to the modern lawyer. In 1882 Mr. Doyle was graduated fi"om the university with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After contin- uing for about three years in the office of Douglass & Minton, he opened an office of his own, at 317 Broadway, and began practice independently. In 1889 he removed to the New York Times Building, where he now has one of the best-eqioipped offices in the city. From the beginning of his practice, Mr. Doyle has given his attention chiefly to the law of banking and commerce. Since 1885 he has acted as an attorney for the National Park Bank of New York, and for several years past he has been the general attorney and counsel of that bank. Among the impor- 122 (y-c^c<^ LOUIS F. DOYLE 123 tant cases, involviBg new and doubtful points of commercial law, in which he has been engaged, are those of Harmon vs. the National Park Bank, reported in the 79th Federal Reporter 891 and in 172 United States Supreme Com't Reports 644 ; the Clin- ton National Bank vs. the National Park Bank, reported in 37 Appellate Division Reports 601 ; Washington Savings Bank vs. Ferguson, reported in 43 Appellate Division Reports 74 ; and the litigation over the affairs of the Domestic Sewing Machine Com- pany, which was finally disposed of by the decision of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, reported as Blake vs. Domes- tic Manufacturing Company in 38 Atlantic Reporter 241. Mr. Doyle has always taken an earnest and practical interest in politics as a Democrat and a member of the local political organization, but he has never been an office-seeker and has held no public office. He is a member of the Manhattan and Demo- cratic clubs, of the American, New York State and New York city bar associations, and, among purely social organizations, of the Metropolitan, New York Athletic, and Suburban Riding and Driving clul)s. He is unmarried and hves alone in apart- ments at Fifth Avenue and Forty-third Street, his only near relative being a sister, the wife of Colonel John M. Carter, Jr., of the Baltimore " News." SILAS BELDEN BUTCHER THE Butcher family in New York is descended from Ruloff Butcher and his wife Jannettie Brussy, who came to this country from Holland early in the seventeenth century. Their son Gabriel married Ehzabeth Knickerbocker, a granddaughter of Harman Janse van Wye Knickerbocker of Butchess County, New York. They were the great-grandparents of Silas B. Butcher. Mr. Butchei-'s parents were Parcefor Carr Butcher and Johanna Low Fi-inck. The latter was a daughter of Stephen and Ann Low Frinck. She was descended fi'om Cornelius Janse Vanderveer, who came from Alkmaan, HoUand, in the ship Otter, in 1659, and settled in Flatbush, Long Island, and also from Conrad Ten Eyck, who came from Amsterdam in 1650, and was the owner of what is now known as Coenties Shp, New York city. Her grandfather, Captain Peter Low, was an officer in the Continental Army. Silas Belden Butcher was bom in Springfield, Otsego County, New York, on July 12, 1829. He attended the pubhc schools of his native town, and for a short time the Cazeuovia Academy. From sixteen to twenty-two he taught school during the winter months, working on his father's farm in the summers. From 1851 to 1855 he was employed in the building and operation of the railroad i-unning between Elmira and Niagara Falls. In 1855 he came to New York and for some years was engaged in a mercantile business. In 1859 he became a charter trustee of the Union Bime Savings Institution, of which he was presi- dent from 1886 until 1891, and with which he is still connected. He is president of the Hamilton Trust Company and of the Ramapo Water Company, treasurer of the Columbia Mutual Building and Loan Association, a director of the Garfield Safe 134 C-CJ^^i THEODORE OILMAN 143 Professor G. L. Raymond of Princeton, Colonel Archibald Hopkins, J. Edward Simmons, the New York banker, the late General S. C. Armstrong, and other prominent men were also members. On leaving college Mr. Gilman entered the banking-house of his father, in this city, and has continued in that occupation ever since. He has held no pohtical office, but has interested himself in public affairs. He has written numerous articles for current periodicals on philosophical and financial topics, and has read papers before various societies. He framed a bill for the incor- poration of clearing-houses, which was introduced in the House of Representatives on January 7, 1896, and he appeared before the Banking and Currency Committee of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses in its behalf. He has also published a book on "A Graded Banking System." Mr. Gilman belonged to the college fraternity of Kappa Alpha. He is a member of the Union League and various other clubs, the Sons of the American Revolution, in which he is president of his chapter, the New England Society, and the New York Sabbath Committee, of which he has been treasurer since 1880. He was married, on October 22, 1863, to Miss Elizabeth Drinker Paxson, and has five children, as follows : Frances Paxson Gilman, Theodore Gilman, Jr., Helen Ives Gilman, Robbius Gihnan, and Ehzabeth Bethune Gilman. FRANK J. GOULD ST. EDMONDSBURY, England, was the old-country home of the Gould family. Before the middle of the seventeenth century, however, one of its members deserted the old home for a new one in the new land. It was about 1645 that Nathan Gould, the first of the name in America, came over and settled at Fairfield, Connecticut. There he soon became a leading citi- zen, along with John Winthrop, Samuel Wyllys, John Mason, John Talcott, and others, and was with them in signing the petition to the king for a charter for the colony. When the charter was granted, Nathan Gould's name appeared in it as one of those to whom it was granted. He became a major in the colonial troops, and was for many years an assistant to the Governor, or member of the Legislative Council. He was rated as the richest man in the community, and when he died he was recorded in the town archives as " the worshipful Major Nathan Gould." Nathan Gould's son, Nathan, became Deputy Governor and chief justice of the Supreme Court of the colony of Connecti- cut. His grandson, Abraham Gould, was a colonel in the Revolutionary Army, and was killed in battle at Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1777. His two brothers were also in the patriot army. Abraham Gould had a son, also named Abraham, who became a captain in the army, and a grandson of the latter was Jay Gould, one of the greatest American financiers of his or any generation. Jay Gould, who was born at Roxbury, New York, in 1836, was at first a surveyor and map-maker, then a tanner, and founder of the town of Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania. Then he came to New York, became a leading broker on "Wall Street, and finally became one of the greatest railroad and tele- 144 FEANK J. GOULD 145 graph proprietors in the world. His identification with the Erie, Union Pacific, Texas and Pacific, Missom-i Pacific, Wabash, and Manhattan Elevated railroads, and the Western Union Telegraph Company, is a part of the business history of America. He died in 1892, one of the richest and most influential men in the world. His wife, who died not long before him, had been Miss Helen Day Miller, daughter of Daniel S. Miller, a leading merchant of New York, and a descendant of an old English family which settled at Easthampton, Long Island, in early colonial days. Mi\ and Mrs. Jay Gould left two daughters, Helen Miller Gould, and Anna Gould, now the Countess de Castellane of France, and four sons, George, Edwin, Howard, and Frank, all four of whom are now interested in carrying on and even extending the gigantic business enterprises which their father left to them. Frank Jay Gould is the youngest child of the late Jay Gould. He was bom in this city on December 4, 1877, and received the sound home training characteristic of the family. He was edu- cated first by tutors at home, then at the E. D, Lyons Clas- sical School, and then at the Berkeley School in this city. Finally he took a special course at New York University, paying attention chiefly to engineering and the sciences, in which he ranked as an admirable student. He was while in the univer- sity a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity, and took an active part in all its affairs. He was the chairman of its building com- mittee, which secured for it the fine new chapter-house at University Heights, for the construction of which Mr. Gould personally turned the first sod in the fall of 1898. On leaving the university he gave to its engineering department several thousand dollars' worth of instruments, and a collection of valu- able mineral specimens. He has taken an active interest in the welfare of the university, and is now a member of its council. In his boyhood Mr. Gould was taken on extended travels in Europe. He has also made many trips through the United States, on both pleasiu^e and business. He thus spent most of his vacations during school years. Before he was fifteen years old, too, his father introduced him into many of the meetings of his railroad boards, and made him a member of one of the com- mittees of the Manhattan Elevated Railroad Company. In this 146 FRANK J. GOULD way he was early filled with practical knowledge of the world, and fitted for enti-ance upon a serious business career. Such a career began in December, 1898. At that time he attained his legal majority, and entered upon the possession of that part of his father's great legacy, amounting to many mil- lions, which had thus far been held in trust for him ; or, more strictly, he entered upon the enjoyment of the income from it, the principal of the whole estate being held intact by trustees. On December 29, 1898, he entered the financial world of Wall Street by purchasing a seat in the Stock Exchange, for which, besides his initiation fee of one thousand dollars, he paid the sum of thirty thousand dollars, one of the highest prices ever paid for a seat in the Exchange. About the same time he became a director of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern RaUroad, one of the great system of the so-called Gould railroads. He has since devoted himself to his business with much of the application and ability that distinguished his famous father. Mr. Gould has already manifested a marked degree of that benevolent spirit which has been shown by other members of the family. While he was in the university he gave a fine new school-house, with tower, clock, and bell, to his father's native village of Roxbury. His gifts to the university have already been mentioned. He heartily seconded his sister, IVIiss Helen Gould, in her patriotic work during the Spanish War of 1898 and afterward. He is fond of out-of-door sports, and is an enthusiastic dog-fancier, having in his kennels some of the finest St. Bernard and other dogs in the world. He is a member of the Psi Upsilon Club, the Ardsley Club, the KnoUwood Country Club, the Ocean County Hunt and Country Club of New Jersey, the Lawyers' Club, the St. Nicho- las Skating Club, the Country Cycle Club, and various other organizations. I GEORGE J. GOULD "TTAVING developed a remarkable business ability, and hav- Xi ing for twelve years devoted himself entirely to my busi- ness, and dimng the past five years taken entire charge of all my difficult interests." That fragment of a sentence, taken fi'om the will of one of the greatest financiers of the age, is fittingly applicable to that fiuau- 'cier's son and successor, whom it was intended to characterize. The name of Jay Goiild is a landmark in the financial and indus- trial history of America. Of his eldest son it is to be said that he has well sustained the importance of the name. George J. Gould was born in the city of New York on Febru- ary 6, 1864. His early education was received at private schools, and was finished at the Cornell School, on Forty-second Street, from which he was graduated in 1880. Then, at the age of six- teen years, he entered his father's office and began the business career that has placed him, at his present early age, in the fore- most rank of the world's financial forces. Inherited ability and' the personal guidance of his father's master mind made his progress rapid. At an age when most young men are intrusted with only simple routine matters he acquired an intimate know- ledge of the essential operations of enormous enterprises and was intrusted with their management. Immediately upon at- taining his majority he was elected a director in each of the great corporations under his father's control, and his name soon began to be linked with that of his father, on aU but equal terms. He was in time elected to high offices in these corpora- tions, so that on his father's death, on December 2, 1892, he was naturally prepared to succeed him as their executive and con- trolhng head. So complete was this readiness, and so great the 147 148 GEORGE J. GOULD confidence felt by the business world in his ability to discharge the gigantic trust, that not the shghtest disturbance in values of securities of those companies was suffered in the making of the change. Mr. Gould is now the head and master mind of six of the greatest industrial enterprises — railroads and telegraphs — in America, involving six hundred milhon dollars in stock and bonds, and commanding the services of eighty thousand employees, besides being interested in numerous other con- cerns. For years his properties have been noteworthy for their prosperity, for their admirable service of the public welfare, and for the satisfactory relations existing between the employer and the army of employees. Business, even of such magnitude, has not, however, monopo- hzed his attention. He has found time for much travel in all parts of the world, and for a healthy participation in out-of- door sports and the joys of social life. He has a splendid estate of twenty-five hundred acres of mountain and forest in the heart of the Catskills, the scene of some of his father's early labors. For a time he had a fine house in New York city ; but resenting what he deemed the unjust discriminations of the tax officers, he removed his home a few years ago to the beautiful village of Lakewood, New Jersey, where he completed, in 1898, one of the finest country houses in America. Living there on the edge of a great pine forest, he is a leader of his townsmen in the sports of the field. He has also made for himself a name as a generous patron of yachting. He takes no part in politics above that of a private citizen. But in the latter capacity he has shown splendid patriotism, as when, at the outbreak of the war with Spain, he offered his fine steam-yacht Atalanta to the govern- ment, and said, " All I have is at the disposal of the nation." Mr. Grould is a member of most of the first-class clubs of New York. He was married, in 1886, to Miss Edith Kingdon, a lady of exceptional beauty and chai-m, and has made with her a home of singular fehcity. Five children have been born to them. SANFORD SHORTER GOWDEY THE ancestors of Sanford S. Uowdey included members of the English, Scotch, and Dutch races. One of his re- mote progenitors of the last-named race was Tuimis Cornehsse Swart, who was one of the first settlers of Schenectady, New York, in 1662, and whose house was at the east corner of State and Church streets, in that place. Mr. Gowdey's father was James Coleman Gowdey, a farmer of Orange County, New York, and his mother's maiden name was Letitia Elhott. Sanford Shorter Gowdey was born of this parentage at Craw- ford, Orange County, New York, on November 3, 1852. His early education was received at the local schools, both public and private. Later he attended a higher school at Newburg, New York, and finally the Normal College at Albany. His first business engagement was as a clerk, from 1868 to 1871, in the office of " Wood's Household Magazine," at New- burg. Next, in the same city, he entered the law office of the Hon. James G, Graham. Thence he came to New York city and became a salesman in a lace house. All this was before he was done with schooling. After leaving the Normal College he traveled through the West, and then became principal of schools, successively at Otisville, Orange County, and Little Neck, Long Island. He also taught in a school at Troy. Finally he came to New York again, studied law under ex-Judge Mc- Koon, and in May, 1879, was admitted to the bar at Poughkeep- sie as an attorney, and in December following, at Brooklyn, as attorney and counselor at law. Mr. Gowdey began the practice of his profession at Blooming- burg, New York, but soon removed to Little Neck, and thence, in 1887, to Middletowu, New York. In 1894 he sought the 149 150 SANFOED SHORTER GOWDEY larger field afforded in New York city, and at the same time made his home at Flushing, Long Island. He has since that date been in practice in New York, with even more than the suc- cess which had marked his career in smaller places. His prac- tice has been of general character, and has largely absorbed his attention. He has, however, made some profitable investments in real estate in New York city and elsewhere. In politics Mr. Gowdey is a Democrat. He was a candidate for the office of Recorder of the city of Middletown in 1892. The city had a Republican majority of four hundred, but Mr. Gowdey claimed to have been elected, and to have been debaiTed from office only by irregular counting of the votes. In that claim he was supported by many of his friends. His opponent was, how- ever, finally declared elected, by eleven votes. Mr. Gowdey de- clined to contest the matter further. The next year he was a candidate for the office of district delegate to the State Consti- tutional Convention, but shared the overwhelming defeat which his whole party suffered in that year. Mr. Gowdey is a member of various social and professional organizations. Among them are the State Bar Association, the Masonic Order, — including the Free and Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templar, and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,— the Order of Odd Fellows, the St. Nicholas Society, the American Tract Society, the Flushing Association, etc. He was mamed in St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church, Flushing, New York, on January 22, 1891, to Miss Catharine Fowler, daughter of the late Benjamin Hegeman Fowler. Two children have been born to them : Catharine, bom on November 2, 1891, and Eleanor, bom on August 1, 1893, and died on August 23, 1896. I I JAMES BEN ALI HAGGIN THERE have been few careers, in this laud of remarkalile performances, more varied and picturesque than that of the subject of the present sketch. From his name one would hesitate to " place " James Ben Ah Haggin in any one part of the Union, and such hesitancy would be judicious, for, as a matter of fact, he belongs to all parts. There would be equal reason for hesitancy in naming Mr. Haggin's occupation in life, for he has had several, and has been successful in them all. He is at once a Kentuckian, a Louisianian, a Califomian, and a New-Yorker. He is a lawyer, a miner, a real-estate dealer, a stock-raiser, a patron of the turf, and a gentleman of leisure. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that he is a millionaire many times over. James Ben Ah Haggin is a native of the Blue Grass State, famous for its brave men, lovely women, and fine horses. He was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, in the first third of the present century, and received as his second name the maiden name of his mother, who was a Miss Adeline Ben Ali. He received the education appropriate to a Kentucky gentleman's son in those days, and was prepared for and admitted to the bar. He began the practice of his profession at Natchez, Missis- sippi, and continued it at St. Joseph, Missouri, and at New Orleans, Louisiana. At the bar he was a commanding figure, and his undoubted abihty in both office and court-room work gave promise of distinguished success. In the flush of his early manhood, however, Mr. Haggin was seized with the '49 fever, and made his way from New Orleans to California. He was not, however, a prospector or 151 152 JAMES BEN ALI HAGGIN a miner at first, but proposed to continue the practice of his profession, rightly reckoning that the new and rapidly growing communities of the Pacific coast, with then- vast financial inter- ests, would afford him an imsurpassed field. He practised with much success in San Francisco and in Sacramento, and might have become the leader of the California bar and a leader in pohtical life. The gold fever was, however, too much for him. He made some investments of his professional earnings in mines, and these tm-ned out so well that he was encouraged to invest more extensively, and presently to withdraw from his law practice and devote his whole attention to mining and similar enterprises. It has often been said of him, and with more than ordinary justice, that everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. Certainly there were few other mining operators who rivalled his success. Among the more important of the mining properties which he developed, or in which he has a commanding proprie- tary interest, may be mentioned the Homestake, and others at the Black Hills, and the great copper-mines at Butte, Montana. In the latter he has been associated with Marcus Daly. He also owns numerous mines and mining lands in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. Mr. Haggin's law firm in California was originally Haggin, Latham & Munson. Later and finally it was Haggin & Tevis, his partner being the well-known capitalist, Lloyd Tevis. After leaving the law, Mr. Haggin retained his association with Mr. Tevis, and the two organized the gigantic Kern County Land Company of Cahfornia. This company owned some four hun- dred thousand acres of land, much of which has been sold, in farm lots at from fifty dollars to one hundred dollars an acre. A part of this vast domain was appropriated by Mr. Haggin himself for his famous Rancho del Pasco. There he became a successful agi'iculturist, making a fortune in the culture of hops and fruits. He also raised stock of various kinds, includ- ing sheep and cattle, on a great scale and with much success. His chief attention, however, as became a son of Kentucky, was given to horse-breeding, and his ranch presently became famous as one of the chief homes in the world of the best thoroughbred racing stock. From the Haggin ranch came, JAMES BEN ALI HAGGIN 153 year after year, the most noteworthy horses on the American turf. The names of Firenzi and Salvator alone attest their general quality. It was in the spring of 1886 that the Haggin stable first began to figure on the turf in the eastern part of the United States. At that time Mr. Haggin and his son, Ben Ah Haggin, brought East, to Kentucky, a lot of choice horses, and entered them in the best races. Thereafter the stable was brought on to the New York tracks, and for years the Haggin horses were among the fore- most on the metropoUtan turf. For the promotion of his inter- ests on the turf in the East, Mr. Haggin purchased the celebrated Elmendorf Farm, near Lexington, Kentucky, and there estab- hshed the greater part of his horse-breeding stables. Mr. Haggin was married in early life, while he was yet a young lawyer, at Natchez, Mississippi. His bride was Miss Saun- ders, the daughter of Colonel Lewis Saunders, one of the fore- most lawyers of that region. Mrs. Haggin shared all his Jour- neys and his triumphs, in the South and on the Pacific coast, and was the loyal partner of his joys and sorrows until he was about seventy years old, when she died. She bore him two sons and two daughters, who grew to ma- tiu-ity. The daughters both married. One of the sons, Lewis Haggin, engaged in business, and still lives and enjoys great pros- perity. The other son, Ben Ali Haggin, was his father's partner and comrade in the horse-breeding and racing enterprises. Some years ago Ben Ali Haggin and one of his sisters died, whereupon Mr. Haggin, aged and bereft, withdrew entirely from the turf. His colors have since then been seen no more in races. But he maintains his farm and ranch, and is still devoted to the breeding and raising of thoroughbred stock. After Mrs. Haggin's death Mr. Haggin remained for some years a widower. At his Kentucky farm and home, however, he was thrown into the society of Miss Pearl Voorhies of Ver- sailles, Kentucky. She was a niece of his former wife, and a young lady of more than usual beauty of person and mind. She had been finely educated at Cincinnati, Ohio, and at Staun- ton, Virginia, and through her Kentucky life and training was in close sympathy with Mr. Haggin's tastes and activities. It was not surprising, therefore, that in the fall of 1897 Mr. Hag- 154 JAMES BEN ALI HAGGIN giu's eugagement to many her was announced, though she was little more than one third his age. The marriage took place at the home of Miss Voorhies's step- father, at Versailles, Kentucky, on the afternoon of December 30, 1897. The couple came on to New York that evening, in Mr. Haggin's private railroad ear, and have since made their home in New York city. Mr. Haggin has taken no part in pohtics, though his oppor- tunities to do so have been many. He is a favorite figure in society, and a welcome associate in the clubs of which he is a member. Chief among these are the Union and the Manhattan clubs of New York. i N. WETMORE HALSEY FOR three generations the paternal ancestors of N. Wetmore Halsey were natives of New York city. His great-grand- father, Jabez Halsey, was a silversmith, with his home and shop on Liberty Street. His grandfather, Anthony P. Halsey, is well remembered from his lifelong connection with the Bank of New York, of which he was president for the last twelve years of his hfe. Mr. Halsey's father, Seton Halsey, left New York and went West to engage in farming. The family was founded in America by Thomas Halsey, who came hither from Great Gaddesden, thirty miles north of London, England. The manor-house there in which he was born has been owned and occupied by the Hal- seys since 1570, and is now the residence of Thomas Frederick Halsey, M. P. Thomas Halsey came to America in 1637, and settled at Salem, Massachusetts, whence he removed in 1641 to Southampton, Long Island, New York. Seton Halsey married Miss Frances Dean, a native of the cen- tral part of New York State, and a descendant of the Andi-us and Brudner families. To them was born, at Forreston, Ogle County, Ilhnois, on December 24, 1856, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Halsey's boyhood was spent upon his father's farm, where he did the work incident to farming in Ilhnois at that date. He was, however, sent to school and carefully educated. From the local schools he went to Beloit CoUege, in Wisconsin, for three years. He did not complete his com-se there, and accordingly received no degree. Thence he went to the Union College of Law, in Chicago, and was there graduated. His first business enterprises were in the rural part of the State of Illinois, where he was, from 1880 to 1884, a country 155 156 N. WETMORE HALSEY lawyer and editor of a country newspaper. In 1884 he removed to Chicago, and there for two years was engaged in general law practice as a member of the firm of French & Halsey. From 1886 to 1891 he was attorney for and employee of the fii'm of N. W. Harris & Co., bankers of Chicago. Since 1891 he has been a member of that firm, and has been its resident partner in New York city. He enjoys a considerable reputation in New York, Chicago, Boston, and, indeed, throughout the United States, as a bond expert and writer, and as a participant in important bond negotiations. Mr. Halsey has an interest in various companies and large properties, though he is not an officer of any of them, Mr. Halsey is connected with numerous clubs and other so- cial organizations in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere. Among these are the Lawyers' Club, the New England Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York ; the New Eng- land Society, the Riding and Driving Club, and the Essex County Country Club of Orange, New Jersey; the Field Club of South Orange, New Jersey ; the Chicago Law Institute of Chicago ; and the college fraternity of Phi Beta Phi. He was married in Chicago, on October 20, 1885, to Miss Mar- garet Hitt of the well-known Hitt family of Illinois, a relative of many prominent Ilhnois public men. Her ancestors on the patei-nal side were originally settled in Virginia and Maryland, whence they removed to lUinois and colonized a portion of Ogle County, in 1835, and have been identified with the development of the State, and furnished a number of distinguished public men. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Halsej^, named respectively Frances, Ralph W., and Helen. The family spends portions of every summer at " Halsey Farm," Forreston, Ilhnois, one hundred miles west of Chicago, an estate of five hundred acres in the richest part of the State. OLIVER HARRIMAN, JR. THE name of Harriman has for many years been known and honored in the commercial Ufe of New York. It is borne by Oliver Harriman, formerly of the important firm of Low, Harriman & Co. of Worth Street, but now retired. Mr. Harri- man was also, during his active business career, a director of numerous financial institutions, with some of which, indeed, he is still identified. He ranked for a long time among the fore- most merchants of the metropolis. He married Miss Laura Low, a member of the famUy of his partner, and the bearer of a name known and honored in New York for many generations. Oliver Han*iman, Jr., the son of this couple, was born in New York on November 29, 1862, and received a careful education in primary and secondary schools. Finally he entered Princeton University, and there pursued with credit the regular academic course. He was prominent in college social life as a member of the Ivy Club and a leader in athletic sports, in which he per- sonally excelled. He was, moreover, a good student, and was duly and honorably graduated in the class of 1883. His inclinations for business led Mr. Harriman not so much toward the mercantile pursuits of his father's firm as toward purely financial operations. Accordingly, on leaving college, he went into the financial center of the city and entered the employ of the well-known fh-m of Winslow, Lanier & Co., bankers. There he remained for five years, serving in various capacities and being promoted from rank to rank. In that excellent school of sound finance he learned the business of banking in a thor- ough and pi-actical manner, and prepared himself to engage therein successfully on his own account. The latter step was taken on January 1, 1888. On that date 157 158 OLIVER HARRIMAN, JR. Mr. Harriman, being only a little past twenty-five years of age, opened the offices of his own firm of Harriman & Co., bankers and brokers. In the conduct of that business his natural abili- ties and aptitude, and the admirable training of the preceding five years, assured him a gratifying measure of success. His fii-m has enjoyed much prosperity, and has established itself in an honorable rank among the many other houses in the same line of business with which the Wall Street region of New York is thronged. Mr. Harriman has also become interested in vari- ous other enterprises, and is a trustee of the Continental Trust Company. lilr. Harriman has taken a good citizen's interest in the welfare of the city, State, and nation. He has not, however, made him- self conspicuous in pohtical affairs, and has held no civil office. He has had a creditable and extended career in the mihtary service of the State. In April, 1888, he entered the National Guard of the State of New York as a second lieutenant of Company F of the Eighth Regiment, and there served efficiently for some years. In 1894: he was chosen to be an aide-de-camp of Greneral Louis Fitzgerald, connnander of the Fu'st Brigade of the National Guard of New York. The next year he was selected for the office of commissary of subsistence, with the rank of major. In the best society of this city Mr. Harriman is a famihar and welcome figure. His membership in clubs includes many of the best organizations in New York. Among them are the University, the Metropohtan, the Knickerbocker, the New York Yacht Club, and the Westchester Coimtry Club. His fondness for athletic sports, developed in school and college, is still one of his charac- teristics, as might be inferred from the names of some of the organizations to which he belongs. Mr. Harriman was married on January 28, 1891, his bride be- ing Miss Grace Carley of Louisville, Kentucky, a member of one of the leading families of that city. Their home is, of course, in this city, and they are now the parents of one child, a son, who bears the names of both his father and his mother — Oliver Carley Harriman. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN HARVEY A NOTABLY successful business and newspaper man of the younger generation is George B, McClellan Harvey, proprie- tor and editor of the " North American Review." He comes of Scottish ancestry, and is a native of Vermont, where he was born, at Peacham, on February 16, 1864. He was educated at the Caledonia Grammar School in that town, and at an early age manifested a strong tendency toward literary and journalistic work. When only fifteen years old he began writing for the local newspapers, and attained considerable success. At the age of eighteen he became a reporter on the staff of the Springfield " Repubhcan," one of the foremost papers in New England, and remained there two years. Then he went West, and for the next year was a reporter for the " Daily News " of Chicago. As in old times all roads led to Rome, so in these days all journahstic roads lead to New York. At the age of twenty-one, with his Peacham, Springfield, and Chicago experience behind him, Mr. Harvey came to the metropohs, and became a reporter for the New York " World." For nearly seven years he served that paper, rising from place to place on its staff until he became managing editor, and then editor-in-chief. The last-named place he held only a short time, when his health became impaired, and he was on that account compelled to resign. That was in 1893. Mr. Harvey then turned his attention to business affairs. For two years he was associated in business with William C. Whitney. Then he undertook the development of electric railroad and lighting concerns on his own account. He built the electric roads on Staten Island, and at Long Branch, Asbury Park, and elsewhere on the New Jersey coast, and is now president of sev- 159 160 GEOEGE B. McCLELLAN HARVEY eral of them. In 1898 lie formed what is known as the Harvey- Syndicate, and purchased the street-railroads of Havana and other properties in Cuba, and to the development and improve- ment of them has since devoted much attention. He is vice- president of the Monmouth Trust and Safe Deposit Company of Asbury Park, New Jersey, of the Lakewood Trust Company of Lakewood, and a director of the Audit Company and of the Mechanics' and Traders' Bank of New York. lyir. Harvey was, at the age of twenty-one, appointed aide-de- camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor Green of New Jersey. He was reappointed and made chief of staff by Governor Abbett, and declined another reappointment at the hands of Governor Werts. He was also appointed commissioner of banking and insirrance by Governor Abbett, but resigned the place after a few months in order to give his full time to newspaper work. He also dechned the place of consul-general at Berlin, which was offered to him by President Cleveland. Early in 1899 Colonel Harvey purchased and became editor of the " North American Review " of New York, perhaps the most noted of hterary and critical periodicals in the United States, and has since devoted much time and work to the management of it. On taking charge of it, he made this statement of his aims : " The policy of the ' North American Review ' will be more poignant in the future. Its articles will be written by men of the hour. They will be popular in their character, while possessing at the same time dignity and weight. I expect to edit the magazine, and will follow the general lines laid down by a long list of illustrious predecessors. There will be no change of form or manner of review. There will be no political partizanship." ^ In such manner Colonel Harvey has since that time been con- ducting the " Review." From the whirl and intense partizan- ship of a daily pohtical paper, and fi-om the keen competition of business enterprises, to the dignified calm of a great review edi- torship, was a marked transition, but it has been successfully sustained. Colonel Harvey was, in November, 1899, elected president of the well-known pubUshing corporation of Harper & Brothers of New York. ^o^.ifx;A7^./t ^vr^^' CHARLES HATHAWAY CHARLES HATHAWAY, the head of the well-known firm of Charles Hathaway & Co., bankers and brokers of New York city, is of mingled English and Scottish ancestry. His father was Nathaniel Hathaway, a member of the family of that name long prominent at New Bedford, Massachusetts, whither it had gone in early days from England. Nathaniel Hathaway became interested in the industrial- ism which in his day, as at pi'esent, was so marked a featm'e of New England, and particularly that part of New England, and removing to Delhi, in Delaware Covmty, New York, on the upper reaches of the Delaware River, he there established exten- sive and profitable woolen mills, the management of which was the chief business of his life. Nathaniel Hathaway married Miss Mary Stewart, a descendant of the illustrious Scottish family of that name which figm-ed so largely in the history of both Scotland and England in former centuries. The offspring of this marriage, Charles Hathaway, was bom on December 27, 1848, at Delhi, Delaware County, New York. He was educated in the local schools, including the excellent Delaware Academy at Delhi, and then at the well-known Wil- liston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts. His earhest business occupation was as a clerk in the Dela- ware National Bank of Delhi, New York. He entered the ser- vice of that institution soon after leaving school, and filled the place with acceptabihty to his employers and with profitable experience and instruction for himself. He next turned his attention to the naval service of his coun- try, with which several of his kinsmen on the maternal side IGl 162 CHAKLES HATHAWAY were or had been prominently connected. In 1872, being then twenty-four years of age, he became fleet clerk on the Asiatic Squadron of the United States navy, under Paymaster Edwin Stewaii, who has now become rear-admiral. In both these places 'Mr. Hathaway received much practical training in various phases of finance, and was fitted for the career into which he was about to enter. His service in the navy lasted fi'om 1872 to 1875, when he retm-ned to this country. He came to New York city in 1879, and entered the employ- ment of the firm of Piatt & Woodward, a leading house of bank- ers and brokers at No. 26 Pine Street. There he found himself fully started in a metropolitan financial career. His previous experience was of much service to him, but there was of course much more to learn. He applied himself diligently to the mas- tery of aU the details of the business, preparing himself for lead- ership in it, and at the same time served his employers with such acceptabihty as to win theii* esteem and favor and assure his own promotion from place to place in their office. His promotion culminated in 1889, when he was received into partnership as a junior member of the firm. Thereupon he took hold of the direction of the business with the same zeal and in- tuition that had marked his subordinate service, and became one of the most forceful members of the firm. Five years after his entry into the firm, in 1894, the senior partners retired, and Mr. Hathaway became the head of the house, which has since been and is now known as that of Charles Hathaway & Co. To the affau's of this house, and to the promotion of the inter- ests of its numerous clients, Mr. Hathaway has devoted and still devotes himself with singleness of pm'pose and with unflagging energy. He works as diligently as though he were still an em- ployee instead of the head of the house, and brings to his labors all the accumulated knowledge and experience of his varied career and of the excellent financial training which he received in earlier years. He has not sought prominent identification with other business enterprises, and has taken no part in pohti- cal matters beyond discharging the duties of a conscientious citizen. The enviable success of his firm is the legitimate result of such concentration of his efforts, and the esteem and con- fidence with which he is regarded by his clients and business CHARLES HATHAWAY 163 associates are deserved tributes to the fidelity and integrity which have marked his whole career. Mr. Hathaway is a well-known and influential member of many clubs and other social organizations, both in New York city and in the delightful New Jersey suburbs — if a fine city is properly to be called a suburb — where he makes his home. In New York city he is a member of the Union League Club, the Down-Town Association, and some others. In the city of Orange, New Jer- sey, he is a member of the New England Society of Orange, the Essex County Country Club, and the Riding and Driving Club of Orange. He was one of the organizers of the last-named club, and has been president of it ever since its incorporation. He is fond of fishing and shooting, and is a member of various clubs devoted to those sports on Long Island, New York, and in Canada. Mr. Hathaway was married soon after he entered business life in New York, and while he was yet merely an employee in the counting-house of Piatt & Woodward. His marriage occurred at PlatteviUe, Wisconsin, on October 5, 1882. His bride was Miss Cora Southworth Rountree, the daughter of a prominent pioneer and business man of the Badger State. Four sons have been bom to them : Stewart Southworth Hathaway, Hai-rison Roimtree Hathaway, Robert Woodward Hathaway, and Charles Hathaway, Jr. DANIEL ADDISON HEALD THE town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wliich occupies a unique position in the political organization of Great Britain, was the old home of the Heald family. From it John Heald came to this country in 1635, and settled at Concord, Massachusetts. There the family remained for several generations. The grand- father of the present representative hved at Concord before the Revolution, and held the office of Deputy Sheriff of Middlesex County. He was among the " embattled farmers " who stood at Concord Bridge and " fired the shot heard round the world." He was also in the American army at Bunker Hill. After the war he removed to Chester, Vermont. His son, Amos Heald, re- mained at Chester, and was a farmer there. Amos Heald mar- ried Lydia Edwards, daughter of Captain Edwards of Groton, Massachusetts, who also was at the battles of Concord and Bunker Hill. Daniel Addison Heald, son of Amos and Lydia Heald, was born at Chester, Vermont, on May 4, 1818. Until he was six- teen years old he lived upon his father's farm, attending in season the local school. Then he went to the Kimball Academy, at Meriden, New Hampshire, and was prepared for college, largely imder the direction of Cyrus S. Richards. Thence he went to Yale, as a member of the class of 1841. While in Yale he was distinguished as a fine student and a leader among his college- mates. He was a member of the Linonian Literary Society, and was its president. He also belonged to the fraternity of Kappa Sigma Theta. He was graduated in the class of 1841, with honorable standing. During his senior year at Yale Mr. Heald engaged in the study of law, under the direction of Judge Daggett, at New Haven. 164 N ^,^^/e^.^^ cX^ I DANIEL ADDISON HEALD 165 Afterward he pursued his legal studies with Judge Washburn, at Ludlow, Vermont, meanwhile teaching in the academy at Chester. In May, 1843, he was admitted to practice at the Ver- mont bar, and began the pui'suit of his profession at Ludlow. It may be added that, in addition to his graduating degree of A. B., he received in course the advanced degree of A. M. For three years Mr. Heald devoted himself exclusively to the practice of law. Then, in 1846, he extended his intei'ests by be- coming cashier of the Bank of Black River, at Proctorsville, which place he filled with success for fom" years. Meantime he had become interested in insurance, being an agent for the iEtna Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and other leading companies. More and more this last-named business engaged his attention, until at last he decided to devote himself entirely to it. He became connected with the Home Insurance Company of New York in 1856, and has ever since been identified with it. For some time he was an agent of it. Then he became general agent. In time he was elected second vice-president of the com- pany. Promotion to first vice-president followed. Finally, on April 1, 1888, after thirty-two years' service, he became president of the company, which place he stiU holds. He has been con- nected with fire-insm'ance for more than fifty-seven years, so that to-day he may well be considered the dean of the business. In addition to the Home Insurance Company, Mr. Heald is prominently connected with the National Bank of North America, and is a director of the Holland Trust Company and the National Surety Company. In his early years, before he gave up the law for insurance, Mr. Heald was elected to the Vermont Legislature, and served for a time in each of its Houses. Mr. Heald was married, on August 31, 1843, to Miss Sarah E. Washbui'n, who bore him five chil- dren. These were Mary E. Heald, who married A. M. Bm-tis in 1874 ; Oxenbridge Thacher Heald, who died at the age of six months; John O. Heald, who married Elizabeth Manning; Charles Arthur Heald, who died in 1880, while a senior in Yale University ; and AUce W. Heald, who married George L. Man- ning. Mrs. Heald died many years ago, and in 1895 Mr. Heald married a second time, his wife being Miss Ehzabeth W. Goddard, of Newton Center, Massachusetts. ARTHUR PHILIP HEINZE A FINE combiuation of one of the "learned professions'" with practical business is to be observed in the career of Arthm* Philip Heinze, who has attained success equally as a lawyer and as an investor in mines. ]Mr. Heinze was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 18, 1864. His father, the well-known New York merchant. Otto Heinze, was of German birth, a son of a Lutheran minister and a descendant of that Kaspar Aquila who helped Luther translate the Bible into Ger- man, the copy of the Bible which was presented to this ances- tor of his in 1547 by the nobles of Thuringia being still in Mi\ Heinze's possession. His mother was, before her mamage, Eliza Marsh Lacey, a native of Middletown, Connecticut, and a descendant of the first colonial Governor of Connecticut. Mr. Heinze was educated thoroughly in the schools of Brooklyn, at the high school at Leipzig, Germany, at Columbia College, where he was graduated with high honors in 1885, at Leipzig again, at Heidelberg, and finally at the Columbia University Law School, where he was graduated in 1888. Mr. Heinze then devoted himself to the practice of the law in the New York office of Messrs. Wing, Shoudy & Putnam. Upon the death of his father, in 1891, he found his attention fully occupied in settling the affau-s of the estate as executor. Then he took a trip half-way round the world. In the (-oiu-se of Ms travels he visited his youngest brother, F. A. Heinze, at Butte, Montana, and decided to join him in the copper-mining industry. In 1893 the brothers foimded the Montana Ore Pur- chasing Company, and speedily became the third largest cop- per-producing company in the State, disbui'sing twelve hundred thousand dollars in dividends in four years. Certain copper 106 / D ^^^^i^Z^ 7. /^v^^L^^ €^ ARTHUK PHILIP HEINZE 167 companies in Boston then began suits against it, and a great mass of litigation, comprising more than fifty suits, was the result. Many of these are still pending. In this litigation Mr. Heiuze's legal abilities have been of vast service and profit to his company, and promise to safeguard its interests to the end. Mr. Heinze also conducted for some years the financial part of his brother's copper-mining and railroad enterprises in British Columbia, where he had built a raih-oad and a smelter, and had received a subsidy of four million acres of land from the Dominion government. This enterprise was finally sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. Heinze then entered his father's old firm. Otto Heinze & Co., wholesale dry-goods and commis- sion merchants of New York. Mr. Heinze has always manifested a great fondness for music, historical studies, and languages. His proficience as a linguist is extraordinary, as he has mastered no less than seventeen lan- guages, and speaks five with perfect fluency. He has taken lit- tle part in political affairs, fincUug ample occupation for his time and talents in business and his social and domestic interests. He was married, on June 14, 1899, to Miss Ruth Meiklejohn Noyes, the youngest daughter of John Noyes, one of the pioneers and most respected citizens of Montana. Their attractive home is on Madison Avenue, New York. Mr. Heinze is a member of various social organizations of high standing. The bulk of his time is, however, divided between his home and his multifarious professional and business duties. In the pv;rsuit of the latter he unquestionably ranks among the most successful men of his age in New York. F, AUGUSTUS HEINZE F AUGUSTUS HEINZE'S ancestry on his father's side is . German, extending unbroken through a famous line of Lutheran clergjinen for three centuries. Among them was that Aquila who knew the Bible so thoroughly that Luther said if all the Bibles were destroyed the book could be restored from Aquila's memoiy. Aqmla's Bible, bearing Luther's remark in Luther's writing upon its title-page, is still owned by the family. Maternally, Mr. Heinze is descended from Connecticut's fii'st colonial Governor. F. Augustus Heinze was bom in Brooklyn in 1869. Educated in the local schools and in Columbia College School of Mines, he was graduated as a mining engineer. Finally he went to Ger- many and studied in the best scientific schools there. Return- ing to the United States, he went West, seeking a business opportunity, and settled at Butte, Montana, in 1890. He was em- ployed by the Boston and Montana Copper Mining Company as a mining engineer, and acquired a thorough practical knowledge of the mining and smelting business. In 1891 he entered the copper-producing field, competing with the great concerns which already occupied and apparently mo- nopolized it. His first operations were confined to mining under leases, and concentrating ores so produced in a mill located at Meaderville. Purchasing this mill, he shortly thereafter arranged to erect a smelter. Construction was commenced on Octolier 27, 1892, and within sixty-eight days the works produced copper matte. In 1893 he was incorporated, with several associates, under the name of the " Montana Ore Purchasing Company." This company, one of the most progressive in the entire State of Montana, has been ever among the first to adopt improvements 168 r. AUGUSTUS HEINZE 169 in machinery and refining methods. The company in 1895 em- ployed 16,000,000 poimds of copper and 650,000 ounces of silver, and paid 32 per cent, in dividends on $1,000,000 capitalization. The capital stock is now $2,500,000, and more than $5,000,000 has been expended for mining properties and improvements. The company owns some of the most valuable copper-mines in the world, including both the east and west extensions of the Anaconda lode. Mr. Heinze has been active in other locahties, erecting, in 1895, large smelting works at Trail, British Columbia, and connecting the same with Rossland by the first railroad entering that town. He connected Trail with Robson by a railway which comprises part of the Columbia and Western Railway Company. The erec- tion of his works at Trail, and the contract which he made with the Le Roi Mining Company for smelting 75,000 tons of ore, made possible the development both of the Le Roi Mine and Rossland district. His enterprises were so important that the Canadian Pacific Railway Company purchased his entire inter- ests, at a very handsome profit to him, in 1898. This transaction accomphshed, he concentrated attention on his Butte investments, where some of the older mining companies had endeavored to curtail his operations by litigation in the courts. The most important of these suits, however, have been decided in his favor. These litigations were among the most important ever prosecuted in the mining industry of the United States, and since 1897, when they were inaugm-ated, several of the contesting companies have found it necessary to consolidate into what is known as the "Amalgamated Copper Company." Mr. Heinze has held no political office, but his personal popu- larity and influence in the State is very great. Although younger than other prominent mining magnates of Montana, among whom might be mentioned Senator Clark and Marcus Daly, his abiUty, intellect, and youth, backed by the immense wealth he has acquired, promise to soon raise him to a position of greater prominence than that yet attained by any one in the State. JAMES WILLIAM HINKLEY MANY men achieve success in some one calling, and a smaller number in two or three. Those who do so in half a dozen widely different pursuits are rare, and when found are well worth more than passing observation. In the present case success is to be recorded as an editor and publisher, as a railroad man, in the insurance world, as a manufacturer, as a financier, and, perhaps above all, as a pohtical manager. James William Hinkley, who was born at Port Jackson, Chn- ton County, New York, comes from Puritan stock, and is in the fifth generation of direct descent from that Thomas Hinkley who was the third Grovemor of the Plymouth Colony, and was famous in the King Philip War and other early struggles. He was educated at the Smith and Converse Academy, near his birthplace, and then was appointed a cadet at the West Point MiUtary Academy. At the latter institution he received the liberal training, in mind and body, for which that government school is noted, and to which credit for much of his success in life is to be given. On leaving school Mr. Hinkley entered the newspaper profes- sion, and became editor and owner of the "News-Press" of Poughkeepsie, New York, and afterward editor and owner of the " Daily Grraphic " of New York city. His newspaper work naturally led him into politics, and gave him influence and power in that field. He was from the first a Democrat, and his ability, resource, and judgment made him a valuable counselor of that party. He rose from place to place in the party organization, until he was chosen chainnan of the State Committee to succeed Edward Murphy, Jr., United States Senator, and to fiU a place that had formerly been held by Daniel Manning, Samuel J. Til- no Jj^!^€^ I JAMES WILLIAM HINKLEY 171 den, and other Democrats of national reputation. The period of his chairmanship was marked with many noteworthy triumphs of the party at the polls, reflecting the highest credit upon him and his lieutenants for their skill and energy in political cam- paigning. Mr. Hinkley is president of the Poughkeepsie City and Wap- pingers Falls Railway Company, and has various other railroad interests, all of which he has directed with consummate skiU. He was president of the Walker Electric Company, which has recently been consolidated with the Westinghouse Electric Com- pany. He is interested in other business and manufacturing enterprises of magnitude, and makes himself felt as force in each and all. He was a close personal and political friend of the late ex-Governor Roswell P. Flower, and was associated with him in many of his great financial undertakings. One of his most notable business connections at present is that with the United States Casualty Company of this city. For some time he was chairman of the executive committee of its board of directors, and in that place his services were dis- tinguished by soundness of judgment and du*ectness of action which conduced to the great prosperity of the corporation. He was then promoted to the presidency of the company, and still holds that office with great acceptabihty. Under his lead the company has risen to a foremost place among institutions of that kind, and in the last few years has more than doubled its assets and surplus. Mr. Hinkley still makes his home at Poughkeepsie, where he has a beautiful mansion and spacious grounds, commanding an unrivaled prospect over the Hudson River and surrounding country. He spends, however, much of his time in this city, and is well known in its busiaess, political, and social life. He is a member of the Manhattan Club, Lawyers' Club, Down-Town Business Men's Club, and other organizations. EDWARD H. HOBBS EDWARD H. HOBBS, for many years one of the represen- tative lawyers and political leaders of Brooklyn, was born at Ellenburg, Clinton County, New York, on June 5, 1835. His father, Benjamin Hobbs, was a farmer, a descendant of Josiah Hobbs, who came to New England in 1670. His mother, whose maiden name was Lucy Beaman, was a descendant of Gamahel Beaman, who came from England in 1635, and was one of the members of the Massachusetts Bay Company, and a settler of Boston. He was educated at the district school at Ellenburg, and then at the Franklin Academy at Malone, New York, work- ing, meantime, on his father's farm. He was sixteen years old when he went to the Franklin Academy and began to prepare himself for college. The outlook for a college career was not bright, for his means were sorely limited ; but his ambition and determination were strong, and not to be daunted by hard work and lack of money. He entered Middlebury College, at Middle- bury, Vermont, and made his way through it in creditable fash- ion, paying his own way, for the most part, by teaching school and working at various other occupations. Having thus got a good general education, he adopted the law as his profession, and began to prepare for the practice thereof. He entered the Al- bany Law School, an institution of the highest rank in those days, and pursued its com'se with distinction. Admission to the bar and entry upon professional practice followed. His college course was interrupted by the Civil War. Early in that struggle he enlisted as a private in the Union army, being then in his senior year at Middlebiu-y. He served through- out most of the war in the Army of the Potomac, and also ui North and South Carolina, and was promoted to be heutenant 172 v.r ^■^fr^^^i^T^ EDWARD H. HOBBS 173 and adjutant, and acting assistant adjutant-general. After the war lie made his home in Brooklyn, and has ever since been identified with that city. He began the practice of law in New York city, and soon attained marked success, building up a large and profitable business. The firm is now composed of four members, under the name of Hobbs & Gifford. Mr. Hobbs is counsel for a number of large industrial and manufacturing corporations. He is also a director of the Bedford Bank of Brooklyn. For many years there have been few men in Brooklyn politics, on the Repubhcan side of the fence, more widely known and respected than "Major" Hobbs, as he is familiarly called. He has all his life been a consistent and energetic Eepublican, with his party loyalty founded, not upon personal interest, but upon intelligent principle. He has been a scholarly and eloquent advocate of the doctrines of that party, and has contributed much to its success in campaigns by his effective speaking. He was long a member of the County and State Republican com- mittees, and has been a delegate to at least one national con- vention and probably a score or more of State conventions. In such places his influence has been felt and his services have been recognized. He might have had nominations and elections to various important public offices, had he so chosen ; but he preferred to remain in private Ufe, and, accordingly, has never held any public office. He is a member of various social organizations, including the Union League Club of Brooklyn, the New England Society of Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon Club of New York, of which last-named he is one of the founders. Mr. Hobbs was married at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1868, to Miss Juha Ellen Buxton. He has one child, a son, Charles B. Hobbs, who is now one of his law partners. O-cA-a/^i^^ ..rh^Q . f/fTj/' ^-^WC yL.a". J, EUGENE AUGUSTUS HOFFMAN 175 1863 he went to Burlington, New Jersey, as rector of St. Mary's Church. He found that church heavily encumbered with debts, and with characteristic energy and ability he set to work to clear them off. Witliin a year he had not only done this, but had also raised enough money to secure for the church the fine bells which now occupy its stately spu'e. Then, in 186-4, he became rector of Grace Church, on Brooklyn Heights, and remained there five years, resigning on account of the ill effect of the strong air of the Heights upon his health. His next charge, from 1869 to 1879, was the parish of St. Mark's in Philadelphia, where he established the first Workingmen's Club in an American church, and did other valuable work. After twice declining the nomination. Dr. Hoffman was in 1879 elected dean of the General Theological Seminary. That institution was then in straitened circumstances, and needed wise direction and financial aid to save it fi'om disastrous de- chne. It received both from its new head. Dr. Hoffman's administrative ability, his devotion and energy, and the munifi- cence of himself and his family soon made it a far stronger school than its projectors had ever ventured to expect. A great group of fine new buildings, improved grounds, new professorships, and rich endowments are among the fruits of his labors at Chelsea Square. Dr. Hoffman is a member of the boards of niunerous religious and charitable organizations, a member of most of the learned societies of New York, and of the Century and some other lead- ing clubs. He has represented the Diocese of New Yoi'k at the last seven General Conventions of the church. He has received the degree of D. D. from Eutgers College, Racine College, the General Theological Seminaiy, Columbia College, Trinity Col- lege, and the University of Oxford, that of LL. D. fi'om King's College, Nova Scotia, and that of D. C. L. from the University of the South and from Trinity University, Toronto. He has written a number of books on rehgious and ecclesiastical themes. He is mariied to Mary Crooke Elmendorf, and has hving one son and three daughters. R C. HOLLINS FC. HOLLINS was born in Philadelphia, but has been a resi- • dent of New York since boyhood. At the age of seven- teen he entered the agency of the Bank of British North America in New York, where he rose to the position of assistant cashier. At the age of twenty-one he took charge of the Coles estate in Jersey City, and sold for that estate to the Erie and Morris and Essex Railroad companies a large pai-t of the dock and terminal properties now occupied by them. He served for two years as a director in the Board of Education in Jersey City. Upon his retirement he received a testimonial from the taxpayers for his devotion to their interests. In 1879 he became a junior partner in the banking and brokerage firm of H. B. Hollins & Co., of New York. In 1886 he organized the present banking and brokerage house of F. C. Hollins & Co. In 1886 Mr. HoUins became a director of the Lake Erie and "Western Railway Company, and afterward was appointed chair- man of the stock-holders' committee of reorganization. He car- ried his plans through and secured the road for the stock-holders. He was also a director in the Peoria, Decatur and Evansville Rail- way Company, and, as one of the executive committee, sold the road to Columbus C. Baldwin and the Hanover Bank interests of New York, whereby George I. Seney, who had become finan- cially embarrassed, was enabled to pay off his indebtedness. He was also a dii-ector in the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Rail- way Company for three years, during which time the common stock appreciated in value from fifteen to eighty-five dollars per share. In 1886 and 1887 he furnished the money for the comple- tion of a large portion of the Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Mich- igan and the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena (now the Detroit and 176 ^^1 *W-,- F. C. HOLLINS 177 Mackinac) railwaj^s. In 1887 and 1888 lie built the St. Louis and Chicago and the Litchfield and St. Louis railways in Illinois. In 1888 he also purchased and completed the Central Missouri and the Cleveland, St. Louis and Kansas City railroads, then in course of construction, and sold the two roads to a syndicate of contrac- tors. The contractors were unable to carry out their plans, and Mr. HoUins joined with others and bought the properties. Mr. HoUins was elected president of the roads, and was in 1891 successful in selling them to the Missoim, Kansas and Texas and the Missouri, Kansas and Eastern Railway companies. In 1889 the president of the St. Louis and Chicago Railway, and outside speculations of his partner, involved the firm in some financial difficulties. Mr. Holhns immediately dissolved the firm, assumed all the habihties individually, both of the firm and of his partner, who died shortly after, and paid every creditor in full, besides taking up two hundred thousand dollars of St. Louis and Chicago Railway bonds sold to him by the president of that road, which were afterward claimed to have been an over- issue. In 1894 Mr. HoUins again became active in business. He was one of the committee which reorganized the Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield Railway Company, after which the road was sold to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway Com- pany. In 1897 he was appointed chairman of the stock-hold- ers' committee of reorganization of Peck Brothers & Co. of New Haven, and saved the property to the stock-holders. In 1898 he was active in the consoUdation of the Meriden Britannia Com- pany with fourteen other silver and silver-plate companies, under the name of the International SUver Company, and became the largest subscriber to the purchase of the bonds of that company. Since that time, he has been engaged in several other large en- terprises, including the purchase of the Consohdated RaUway Electric Lighting and Equipment Company. G>0 HARRY ROWLEY HOLLINS HARRY ROWLEY HOLLINS is of English ancestry. His father, Frank Holhns, was a son of Wilham Holhns, who came from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1795, and, with his brother John, foxmded a counting-house in that city. Frank Hollins married Elizabeth Coles, a descendant of Robert Coles, who set- tled at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1630. The Coles family in 1700 removed to Long Island, and a branch of them settled at Dosoris — now Glen Cove. John B. Coles, a great-grandfather of Mr. Hollins, was a prominent merchant of New York city, and was one of the founders of the original Tontine Association. Harry Rowley Hollins was born in New York city on Septem- ber 5, 1854, and was educated in local schools and in the Univer- sity of the City of New York, now New York University. His incUnations were strongly turned toward financial operations, and on beginning business life he first sought a clerkship in the house of Levi P. Morton & Co. That was in 1870. Next he was a clerk in the house of D. P. Morgan & Co. In 1872 he became cashier for Oakley & Co., and in 1873 cashier for John D. Prince & Co. In 1874 he made a trip around the world, and in 1875 he started in business on his own account. At that time Mi*. Hollins organized the insurance brokerage firm of Grundy, Holhns & Martin, at No. 28 Pine Street. Two years later, in 1877, he formed the firm of H. B. Hollins, stock- brokers. Finally, in 1878, he founded the firm of H. B. Hollins & Co., bankers and brokers, at No. 74 Broadway, with whom he is still identified. This firm from the time of its organization transacted the bulk of the Vanderbilts' operations on Wall Street, until they discontinued their dealings there. Mr. Hollins 178 t^^^jxf HAREY BOWLEY HOLLINS 179 was one of the founders of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, which was organized in 1884 with a capital of $300,000. In 1886 his firm acquired control of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Greorgia, of which Mr. Hollins was thereupon elected vice-president, and also of the ferries afterward operated by the Metropolitan Ferry Company of New York. The firm was the first to engage in industrial enterprises, and also to become interested in international financial institutions. In 1888 it organized a syndicate which pm-chased control of the Banco Hipotecario de Mexico, and founded the International Mortgage Bank of Mexico, of which Mr. HolHns is now vice-president. In that year the firm also acquired control of all the gas-light companies in St. Louis, Missouri, and consolidated them under the name of the Laclede Gas Light Company. It also acted as bankers in the organization of the United States Rubber Com- pany, financed the electrical equipment of the Brooklyn City Railroad Company, and organized the Long Island Traction Company and the Brooklyn, Queens County and Suburban Rail- road Company, which companies now form part of the Brooklj^Ti Rapid Transit Corporation. It financed the following ferry companies, of which it obtained control : the Twenty-third Street FeiTy Company, the Union Ferry Company, the Hoboken Ferry Company, and the Brooklyn Ferry Company. It also financed the East River Gas Company, which has its plant at Ravens- wood, borough of Queens, and supphes gas to Manhattan Island through a tunnel under the East River. It was the first New York banking house to enter Havana, Cuba, after the war, having in 1899 organized the Havana Commercial Company. Mr. Hollins is connected with the Brooklyn Ferry Company, the New Amsterdam Gas Company, the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, the International Mortgage Bank of Mexico, the Laclede Gas Company of St. Louis, the Plaza Bank of New York, the Knickerbocker Trust Company, and other corpora- tions. He is a member of the Union, Metropolitan, Racquet, and Knickerbocker clubs of New York, and the South Side Club of Long Island. He married, in 1877, Miss Evelina Knapp, daughter of William K. and Maria M. Knapp, and granddaughter of Sheppard Knapp and Abraham Meserole. They have four sons and one daughter. JOHN HONE THERE are no names more honorably distinguished in the history of this country than those of Hone and Perry. The founder of the former family in America came from Ger- many and settled in New York. One of his descendants, the gi'eat-gi'andfather of the present subject, was the head of the noted auction house of John Hone & Sons, and another was that Philip Hone who is remembered as one of the best mayors this city ever had. The father of the present subject was John Hone, a Columbia College alumnus, and a successful lawyer of this city, while his mother was Jane Perry Hone, daughter of that Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry who commanded a squadron in the Mexican War and afterward won immortal fame by " opening " Japan to intercourse with the world. Of such parentage John Hone was born in this city on De- cember 14, 1844. He was educated at the well-known Charlier Institute in this city, and entered Columbia College in 1861. But the caU of patriotism led him to leave college, and on May 25, 1862, he was mustered into the service of the nation as a private in the New York Seventh Regiment. He was called into active service at the time of Stonewall Jackson's raid in the Shenandoah Valley, and then, in September, 1862, was mustered out and returned to college. A second time he forsook college for the ai-my, in June, 1863, when he went to the front with the Seventh Regiment, A few weeks later the regiment was recalled to this city to suppress the Draft Riots. These absences from college were objected to by the president of Columbia, and accordingly Mr. Hone severed his connection with Columbia and was not graduated. But the university — as it had then be- come — vindicated his record many years later by giving him, in 180 JOHN HONE 181 June, 1894, the A. B. degree, which, but for his patriotism, he would have taken in 1865. After leaving college, Mr. Hone entered a banking-house in New York, and then transferred his ser\dces to the house of August Belmont & Co., where he remained imtil January 1, 1869. At that date he opened the house of Hone & Nicholas, of which he was the head. It had a successful career until 1876, when it went into liquidation. In 1877 Mr. Hone became a member of the Stock Exchange, and junior partner of the firm of SmaUey & Hone. This connection lasted until 1881, since which time he has been in business alone. Mr. Hone has been a member of the governing committee of the Stock Exchange, and was for two years vice-president of the Exchange, in 1890-91. He is a director of the Evansville and Terre Haute and of the Evansville and IndianapoHs railroad companies, and has been treasm-er and a manager of the Man- hattan Club. Mr. Hone has taken some interest in political matters, though he has held no public office. He was a member of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee for three terms, twice a del- egate to the New Jersey Democratic State Convention, and in 1892 he was a delegate at large from New Jersey to the Demo- cratic National Convention. He is a member of the Metropolitan Club, the Manhattan Club, the Larchmont Yacht Club, the Sons of the Revolution, the Sons of the War of 1812, and the Grand Army of the Re- public. He has been a member also of the Union, Knicker- iDOcker, and New York Yacht clubs. WILLIAM BUTLER HORNBLOWER THE first American member of the Hornblower family was Josiah Hornblower, an eminent Englisli civil engineer who, at the request of Colonel John Schuyler, came to this coun- try in 1753. He became the manager of some copper-mines at Belleville, New Jersey, and there set up the first stationary steam-engine in America. He was a captain in the French and Indian War, a vigorous patriot in the Revolution. There- after he was Speaker of the Lower House of the New Jersey Legislature, a State Senator, a member of Congress, and a jus- tice of the Court of Common Pleas in New Jersey. His son, Joseph C. Hornblower, was a lawyer by profession. He was a Presidential Elector in 1820, chief justice of the State of New Jersey in 1832, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1844, professor of law at Princeton in 1847, vice-president of the first RepubUcan National Convention in 1856, president of the New Jersey Electoral College in 1860, and one of the foun- ders of the American Bible Society. His son, William Henry Hornblower, was a prominent Presbyterian clergyman, a mis- sionary, pastor of a church at Paterson, New Jersey, for twenty-seven years, and professor in the Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, for twelve years. He married Mathilda Butler of SufBeld, Connecticut, a woman of Puritan ancestry. WilUam Butler Hornblower, the second son of this last-named couple, was born at Paterson, New Jersey, in 1851. He was educated at the Collegiate School of Professor Quackenbos ; then at Princeton, where he was graduated in 1871 ; and at the Law School of Columbia College, where he was graduated in 1875. Between leaAong Princeton and entering Columbia he spent two 182 / r*^/^?^-?:''^' mi^ BUTLER HOENBLOWER n 175:3. member of the ilorublower famil r, au eminent English civil engineei - . .. . ...onel John Schuyler, came to this eo He became the manager of some copper-mi: at Belleville, New Jersey, and there set up the first statiou -steam-engine in Arrierica. He was a captain in the Y< and Indian War, a vigorous patriot in the Revolution. 'J. . after he was Speaker of the Lower House of the New Jei Legislature, a State Senator, a member of Congress, and a v tice of the Ck)urt of Common Pleas in New Jersey. His t Joseph C. F ' ' V, was a lawyer by profession. He wc Presidential ^- a 1820, chief justice of the State of K Jersey in 1832, Tiiember of the Constitutional Convention 1847, vice-president '856, presit^ 'Ue of the :.. VViUiam He. I^rgyman, a !■ i. New Jersey, ^ ,- theological Ser^'- _ .welve years. He u; ;d, Connecticut, a woman of Puri 1844, profe the first T the N • der« Hon sionary, twen^' at ^'A i.v t-,. . . ■ .J , >- V Mathilda Butler ancestry. WilUam Butler Ho "i)le, was bom "* :ated at the Col. :>cond son of this iast-nui :. .,. „ Jersey, in 1851. He . ool of Professor Quackenbos; t; t Princeton, where he was prfiiduated in 1871; and at the 1 ■>1 of Columbia C where he was graduated in 1.- een leaving Princct^ ' 'ntering Columbia he spent '■--'<'^5^-«!S^^S»s»' '■(p'~-?~r'-c^^rz^^ WILLIAM BUTLER HORNBLOWER 183 years in literary studies. In 1875 he was admitted to practise law at the bar of New York, and became connected with the firm of Carter & Eaton, with which he remained until 1888. In that year he foi'med the new firm of Hornblower & B^Tne, which later became Hornblower, Byrne & Taylor. Mr. Hornblower has long been one of the most successful lawyers of New York. Since 1880 he has been counsel for the New York Life Insurance Company. He was counsel for the receiver in the famous Grant & Ward bankruptcy cases, and has made a specialty of bankruptcy cases and insurance suits. His practice in the federal courts has been extensive, and among the cases in which he has appeared may be named the Virginia bond controversy, and railroad bond cases of the city of New Orleans. Mr. Hornblower has long taken an active interest in politics as an independent Democrat. He has on more than one occa- sion been among the foremost leaders of his party in this State, especially during the administrations of President Cleveland, of whom he was an earnest supj)orter. He also took a prominent part in the sound-money campaign in 1896. He has often been suggested as a fitting candidate for office, and in 1893 was nomi- nated by President Cleveland for a place on the bench of the Su- preme Court of the United States. His fitness for the place was universally conceded, but his independence in pohtics had dis- pleased some party leaders, and his nomination was not con- firmed. He married, in 1882, Miss Susan C. Sanford of New Haven, Connecticut, a woman of Puritan descent, who died in 1886, leaving him three children. In 1894 he married Mrs. Emily Sanford Nelson, a sister of his first wife and widow of Colonel A. D. Nelson, U. S. A. His home in this city is on Madison Avenue, and his summer home is Penrhyn, Southampton, Long Island. He is a member of the Metropolitan Club and the Bar Association, and of various other social and professional organizations. HENRY ELIAS ROWLAND THE last survivor of the historic company that came to the New World in the Mayflower was John Howland, who died at a great age, after a life full of heroism and adventure. He married Ehzabeth Tilley, also a Mai/flower Pilgrim, and they had a large family, which spread into the various New England States and New York. Hemy Ehas Howland comes of the New England branch of the family, and is a lineal descendant, in the seventh generation, from John Howland of Plymouth Colony. His great-grand- father was the Rev. John Howland, who was for nearly sixty years a famous Congregational clergyman in the town of Carver, Massachusetts. Judge Howland's parents were Aaron Prentice Howland and Huldah Burke, who also came of a family dis- tinguished in New England annals. Edmimd Bm-ke of New Hampshire, member of Congress for many years, and Commis- sioner of Patents under Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, was a near relative. Henry Ehas Howland was bom at Walpole, New Hampshire, in 1835. He was prepared for college at the Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire, and entered Yale College, from which he was graduated in 1854. He took a course in the Harvard Law School, receiving his degree of LL. B. in 1857. After his admission to the bar he came to New York city and began to practise law, which he has continued uninterruptedly, except for a short period in 1873, when he was appointed to fill an unexpired term on the bench of the marine court. As a practitioner he has had an extraordinary success, and he has established a high reputation as a speaker, both in coiui; and in pohtical meetings. He is a lifelong Repubhcan, and has 184 yz^^^-^ -t^ ^^ A^-^if^^c c ^ HENKY ELIAS HOWLAND 185 been active in municipal politics. He was an alderman of the city in 1875 and 1876, president of the Municipal Department of Taxes in 1880, under Mayor Cooper, and has been the party nominee for judge of the Court of Common Pleas and for the bench of the Supreme Court. He is president of the Society for the Rehef of the Destitute Blind, president of the board of the Manhattan State Hospital of New York, and a member of the corporation of Yale University. Judge Howland is a member of the Metropohtan, the Century, the Union League, the University, the Players', the Repubhcan, and the Shinnecock Hills Golf clubs, and the New York State Bar Association. He is secretary of the Jekyl Island Club, secretary of the Century Association, Governor-Greneral of the National Society of Mayflower Descendants, and Governor of the New York Society, president of the Meadow Club of South- ampton, and vice-president and a member of the council of the University Club. He was married, in 1865, to Miss Louise Miller, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah K. Miller, and granddaughter of Edmimd Blunt, the famous author of Blunt's " Coast Pilot." They had six children: Mary M., Charles P., Katherine E., John, Julia Bryant, and Frances L. Howland. Of these three only are living. The Howland town house is at 14 West Ninth Street, and they have a beautiful country home at Southamp- ton, Long Island. COLGATE HOYT COLGATE HOYT is a son of James Madison Hoyt, who was born at Utica, New York, was educated at Hamilton Col- lege, maiTied Miss Mary Ella Beebes of New York city, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he had a distinguished career as a lawyer, real-estate operator, and leader in the benevolent activities of the Baptist Church. Colgate Hoyt was born in Cleveland, on March 2, 1849. After receiving a careful and thorough primary education he was sent to Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. Owing to trouble with his eyes, he was, however, compelled to leave school at the end of his first year there. He then retvirned home to Cleveland, and was for a time employed in a hardware store in that city. Later he joined his father in his real-estate operations, and soon became himself the owner of some valuable pieces of property. From 1877 to 1881 he was largely engaged in loaning money on the security of real estate. Mr. Hoyt came to New York city in 1881, and became a partner in the firm of J. B. Colgate & Co., bankers and dealers in bulhon. He maintained that connection with much success tmtil the death of Mr. Trevor, in 1890, when the firm was dissolved. In 1882-84 he was a government dii-ector of the Union Pacific Rail- way, and was thereafter for some years a company director of the same road. He joined Charles L. Colby and Edwin H. Abbot in the Wisconsin Central Railroad enterprise in 1884, and the three became trustees of the entire stock of the corporation, and made the road a through hne from Chicago to Milwaukee and St. Paul. They also built the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad as a terminal, with fine passenger stations in Chicago. Mr. Hoyt has been a director and active spirit in the Oregon 180 "r COLGATE HOYT 187 Railway and Navigation Company, the Northern Pacific Raih-oad Company, and the Oregon and Transcontinental Company. He reorganized the last-named as the North American Company in 1890, under trying circumstances but with entire success. In 1888 Mr. Hoyt bought the whaleback steamboat patents of Cap- tain Alexander McDougall, and organized a company with five hundred thousand dollars, known as the American Steel Barge Company. Of this corporation he became president and trea- surer. It has great shipyards and other works at West Superior, Wisconsin, and gives employment to some fifteen hundred men. Another of Mr. Hoyt's enterprises is the Spanish- American Iron Company, which has a capital of five million dollars, and is engaged in the development and operation of the Lola group of iron-mines in Cuba. Mr. Hoyt was one of its organizers and its treasm-er. He is also proprietor of extensive orange groves in Florida, and is a director and first vice-president of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad of Texas. He is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and has exercised no little influence in Wall Street affairs. Mr. Hoyt was married, in 1873, to Miss Lida W. Sherman, daughter of Judge Charles T. Sherman and niece of General William T. Sherman and ex-Secretary John Sherman. They have four children living. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt make their home in Oyster Bay, New York. Mr. Hoyt is a member of the Metro- politan, Union League, Lawyers', Riding, New York Yacht, and Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht clubs, the Ohio Society, and the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. He is a trustee of Brown Uni- versity, Providence, Rhode Island. He was the originator of the novel missionary scheme of operating chapel cars on railroads. He was also the chief organizer of the famous First Troop of Cleveland, one of the finest cavalry organizations in the country, which served as escort to President Oarfield and President McKinley at their inaugurations. Ml'. Hoyt has held no political offices. He is a brother of the Hon. James H. Hoyt of Cleveland, one of the foremost members of the Ohio Imr, and of the Rev. Dr. Wayland Hoyt, the eminent Baptist clergyman. THOMAS HAMLIN HUBBARD THE names of Hamlin and Hubbard are both well known in the history of New England, and of the State of Maine in particular. The former has been borne by an eminent college president, and by a vice-president of the United States. The latter has been conspicuous in the State of Maine for the greater part of the century, and is inseparably identified with one of the most noteworthy incidents in the political and social history of that commonwealth. That incident was the adoption of the so-called Maine Law, a law absolutely prohibiting the manu- facture or sale of intoxicating liquors of any kind in that State, save as chemicals for purely scientific use. The author of that famous statute was General Neal Dow. The man who enforced it and made it splendidly successful was Dr. John Hubbard. This pioneer of prohibition rose into political prominence in Maine in the first part of the centiuy. In 1843 he was elected a member of the State Senate, and exerted a marked influence in that body in directing and shaping important legislation. In 1849 he was elected Grovernor of the State, and served in that capacity for four years. It was during his administration that the Maine Law was enacted, and it fell to his lot, accordingly, to put it into force. That was no easy task, for Maine had been a hard-drinking State, and prejudice against the new order of things was strong. Important property interests and political influences were arrayed against it. But Grovemor Hubbard was tremendously in earnest. He took up the matter with inflexible determination and unflagging zeal. In a short time he put the law into force as f uUy as any other law on the statute-book, thus achieving what innumerable critics had pronounced impossible. 188 1 :,- ^^L^-6-Cr-^^^.C:) THOMAS HAMLIN HUBBABD 189 To him, therefore, the success of the law and its permanent retention upon the statute-books of the State are due. Governor Hubbard had a wife who was a worthy companion for so zealous and masterfid a man. Sarah Hodge Barrett, as her name would indicate, was of pm-e New England stock. One of her grandsires was a minute-man at Lexington, and a gallant soldier in several engagements in the War of the Revolution, and was killed in the second battle of Stillwater, just before the surrender of General Bm-goyne. A large measure of his patriotic spirit descended to his granddaughter, Sarah Hodge Barrett, who became the wife of Doctor, afterward Governor, Hubbard. Of this parentage Thomas Hamhn Hubbard was born, at Hal- lowell, Mame, on December 20, 1838. He received a careful preparatory education, and in 1853 was matriculated at Bowdoin College. There he pm-sued a studious career, and was gi'aduated honorably in 1857. His bent was toward the practice of law, and he at once began studying with that end in view, in a law office at Hallowell. In 1860 he was admitted to practice at the Maine bar. But he was not himself fully satisfied with his attainments, and so went to Albany, New York, and entered the well-known law school there. On May 14, 1861, he was admitted to practice at the bar of the State of New York, and actually began such practice, with fine prospects of success. It was not, however, for long. An important interruption was at hand. That interruption was the one which came to thousands at about the same time. The outbreak of the Civil War aroused all the young man's patriotic ardor — an element not lacking in the sons of Maine — and impelled him to offer his services to the national government. He went back to Maine, to his old friends and neighbors, and in 1862 joined the Twenty-fifth Regi- ment of Maine Volunteers, with the rank of first heutenant and adjutant. During a part of his service he was acting assistant adjutant-general of his brigade. On July 11, 1863, he was mus- tered out, but immediately reentered the service. He was actively engaged in raising the Thiriieth Regiment of Volun- teers, and on November 10, 1863, was commissioned heutenant- colonel in that regiment. In that capacity he served through the Red River campaign, and soon was promoted to the command of the regiment, and led it in the assault upon Monett's Bluff. 190 THOMAS HAMLIN HUBBABD He assisted in the construction of the famous Red River dam, by means of which the depth of water in the river at that point was increased sufficiently to float out the Federal gunboats and thus save them from serious embarrassment. He also helped to bridge the Atchafalaya River with a line of boats, for the passage of the army. A colonel's commission came to him on May 13, 1864, and he was transferred with his regiment to the Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia. He there served throughout the remainder of the war, sometimes in command of his regiment, sometimes in com- mand of a whole brigade. He also served as presiding judge of a court martial. In April, 1865, he was ordered to Washington, and there, in the following month, participated in the grand final reviews. Later he was sent to Savannah, Georgia, to con- duct examinations of officers of the volunteer army who wished to be transferi'ed to the regular army. And, finally, on July 13, 1865, he received the commission of a brevet brigadier-general, and then was honorably mustered out of the service. Greneral Hubbard then returned to the law practice, which had been so completely interrupted three years before. He came straight to New York city, and for a year or more was associated with the Hon. Charles A. Rapallo. Then, in January, 1867, he be- came a partner in the firm of Barney, Butler & Parsons. Seven years later the firm was reorganized into its present form and style of Butler, Stillman & Hubbard. In its affairs General Hubbard has from the first played a leading part, and he has long been recognized as one of the leaders of the New York bar. His engagements as counsel have included many cases in which enormous commercial interests were involved. Much of his practice, indeed, has been in the interest of corporations and great industrial enterprises, and to that branch of professional work he has paid particular attention, and in it he has become an assured authority. Such professional practice has naturally led him into other business relations with corporations. Thus he is a director and vice-president of the Southern Pacific Rail- road Company and president of several other railroad companies affihated therewith. COLLIS POTTER HUNTINGTON TTIHE village of Harwinton, in picturesque Litchfield County, X Connecticut, was the native place of Collis Potter Hun- tington, where he was born on October 22, 1821. He was the fifth of nine children, and at the age of fourteen years left school and began the business of life. For a year he was engaged at wages of seven dollars a month. In 1837 he came to New York and entered business for himseK on a small scale. Then he went South, and gained much knowledge of the region in which some of his greatest enterprises were afterward to be conducted. At the age of twenty-two he Joined his brother Solon in openmg a general merchandise store at Oneonta, New York, and for a few years applied himself thei'eto. But he longed for more extended opportunities, and found them when the gold fever of 1849 arose. Mr. Huntington started for Cahf ornia on March 15, 1849, on the ship Crescent City, with twelve hundred dollars, which he di-ew out of his firm. He reached Sacramento some months later with about five thousand dollars, having increased his capital by trading in merchandise during his detention on the Isthmus. He at once opened a hardware store there, which is still in existence. Business was good, profits were large, and by 1856 he had made a fortune. Then he turned his attention to raih'oads, especially to a line connecting the Pacific coast with the East. In 1860 the Central Pacific Railroad Company was organized, largely through his efforts, and he came back to Washington to secure government aid. He was successful, and the sequel was the building of the first railroad across the continent. He was one of the four who gave that epoch-making 191 192 COLLIS POTTEK HUNTINGTON work to the nation, the others being Messrs. Hopkins, Stanford, and Crocker. The Central Pacific road was completed in May, 1869. Later Mr. Huntington and his three associates planned and built the Southern Pacific road. When Colonel Scott sought to extend the Texas Pacific to the west coast, Mr Huntington hurried the Southern Pacific across the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, and met the Texas line east of El Paso. Thence he carried his line on to San Antonio. In the meantime he had acquired various lines east of San Antonio, including the Gal- veston, Harrisburg and San Antonio, the Texas and New Orleans, the Louisiana Western, and the Morgan's Louisiana and Texas railroads. In 1884 he organized the Southern Pacific Company, and under it unified no less than twenty-six distinct coi-porations, with some seven thousand miles of railroads and some five thousand miles of steamship lines in the United States and five hundred and seventy-three miles of railroads in Mexico. Even these stupendous enterprises did not exhaust the energy nor satisfy the ambition of Mr. Huntington. He and his asso- ciates acquired the Guatemala Central Railroad, probably the best railroad property in Central America, and opened coal- mines in British Columbia. Not content with his railroad system fi'om the Pacific to the Gulf, he reached out to the Atlantic as well, gainiag a controlling interest in various Eastern railroads, and estabhshing at Newport News, Virginia, where the system terminated, one of the greatest shipyards in the world, and a port for commerce which already has secured a large share of the foreign trade of the United States. Of late years Mr. Huntington has resided most of the time in this city. Despite his long career and advancing age, he still exhibits the energy and ambition of youth, and the abihty thereof for hard and continuous work, his fine native consti- tution having been kept unimpaired. ^r. ^XA.e-A.-«-,OEy L- t( . c^ CLARENCE MELVILLE HYDE THE family of Hyde, which is not without distinction in the history of Great Britain, was among those eariiest trans- planted to the North American colonies. Its pioneer and pro- genitor on these shores was William Hyde, who came from England in 1632. He fii'st settled at Hartford, Connecticut, and later removed to Norwich. There the family was permanently established, and there it contributed much, thi-ough many gen- erations, to the growth, not only of the city of Norwich, but of the entire colony and State. Indeed, the Hydes played no small part in the affau-s of the colonies in general. We find, in the third generation, Simon Lathrop, a son of William Hyde's daughter, serving with gallantry as a lieutenant-colonel of Con- necticut troops at the memorable capture of Louisburg. Again, in the next generation, James Hyde was a lieutenant of Connec- ticut troops in the patriot army in the War of the Revolution, being connected with the First and Fourth Connecticut regi- ments successively. The sixth generation discloses the name of Edwin Hyde, a wholesale grocer in the city of New York, his father, Erastus Hyde, having come hither from Connecticut, the first of the family to leave that State. Edwin Hyde was associated in busi- ness with Ralph Mead, a man of old Connecticut ancestry, and he married Mr. Mead's daughter, Elizabeth Alvina Mead. Their home was at No. 95 Second Avenue, a pari of the city that in early days promised to be the chief center of fashion and wealth, but which was in time outstripped by Fifth Avenue. To that couple, at that address, Clarence Melville Hyde was bom, on January 11, 1846. At the age of seven years he was sent to a primary public school, where he manifested more than ordinary ability in mastering his lessons. His progi-ess was so 193 194 CLAKENCE MELVILLE HYDE rapid, and, at the same time, sure and thorough, that at the age of twelve years he was able to go to the Columbia College Gram- mar School to begin his college preparatory course. Foui- years later he was matriculated at Columbia College, where he pursued a. most creditable career, and was duly graduated as a member of the class of 1867, with a fine reputation for scholarship. His next step was to enter the Law School of Columbia College, there to continue his briUiant career. He was graduated in the class of 1869, with the degree of LL. B., and the next year the college added to his A. B. degree that of A. M. Mr. Hyde was not the inheritor of a great fortune, but had his own way to make in the world, and he set out diligently to make it. He Hved quietly, studied earnestly, and worked hard at his chosen profession. After his admission to the bar, he engaged in general practice, but made a specialty of real-estate business, accountings, etc., a department of the legal profession for which there is in New York much demand, and which is accordingly profitable. In such practice he was eminently successful, and he rose rapidly to a leading place at the bar. Mr. Hyde early took the active interest in public affairs that was to be expected of a man of patriotic ancestry. He affiliated himself with the Repubhcan party, and was earnestly devoted to the promotion of its principles and welfare. During the admin- istration of President Arthur he served as deputy consul-general at Vienna, but apart from that has held no public office, and has sought none. His official duties, of course, took him abroad. So have his professional duties, more than once. Either on business or on pleasure, he has crossed the Atlantic Ocean no less than forty times, and has traveled extensively in Europe. Mr. Hyde is a member of the Union League, Repubhcan, Metropolitan, Lawyers', and Down-Town clubs, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the New York Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Hyde was married, in this city, in 1891, to Miss Lillia Babbitt, youngest daughter of the late B. T. Babbitt, and has one daughter, Clara Babbitt Hyde. His home is in this city, and he has a fine summer residence at Greenwich, Connecticut. FREDERICK ERASTUS HYDE DR. HYDE is one of seven brothers, descended from early New England ancestry. The Hydes came fi-om England to Boston in 1633, a year or two later moved to Hartford, then to Saybrook, Connecticut, and, finally, with some thu'ty other families, settled on the Thames River where the city of Norwich now stands. There Edwin Hyde, Dr. Hyde's father, was boru. Dr. Hyde's paternal grandfather was Lieutenant James Hyde, who served in the Revolutionary ai-my, and was with Washing- ton at Valley Forge and Yorktown. Another ancestor was Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Lathrop, who was put in command of the fort after the taking of Louisbm-g, Cape Breton, in 1745. Dr. Hyde's mother was formerly Miss Elizabeth Alvina Mead, a descendant of the Meads who settled at Greenwich, Connecticut, about 1640. The original farm of John Mead, with a house built in 1793, is now in Dr. Hyde's possession. Frederick Erastus Hyde, a descendant in the seventh genera- tion from the founder of the family in America, was born in the city of New York on February 25, 1844. He entered the Col- lege of the City of New York, intending to pursue its full course. His studies were interrupted by illness, however, and he was reluctantly obliged to leave college. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 he enhsted hi the organization known as the Union Grays; but in 1862 it was mustered into the Twenty-second Regiment of New York Yohm- teers and sent to the front. Service on the field of battle did not come until the next year, 1863, but there was plenty of it then, for he went with the regiment all through the Gettysburg campaign. His desire was to sei've all through the war, Imt the exposures incidental to a soldier's life told severely upon his not 195 196 FREDEEICK EKASTUS HYDE rugged constitution, his health failed again, and he was obhged to give up army life and go abroad for recuperation. Returning to this country, he became interested in mining enterprises, and in 1866 went out to Denver, Colorado, making the trip by stage-coach fi*om Leavenworth, Kansas, along the Kansas River and Smoky Hill Branch. At that time danger from hostile Indians was still acute, and all such travelers had to go armed in self-defense. The next year, as the representa- tive of a Baltimore mining company, he crossed the Isthmus of Panama and went to Arizona to examine various mining proper- ties. On this trip his party, consisting of nine men, was at- tacked by Walapai Indians, and foiu" of them were killed. After these and other similar entei-prises, Mr. Hyde returned to New York and again became a student, in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which institution he was graduated, with the degree of M, D., in 1874. Since that time he has led a quiet and somewhat retired life. He has held no pubUc office, and has taken small part in political affau's aside from discharging the duties of a citizen. He has, however, interested himself much in some church and philanthropic enterprises. He has also trav- eled extensively with his family in almost all accessible parts of the world. He was recently elected a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History. He is associated with many clubs and other bodies, including the Union League, Metropohtan, Church, Rid- ing, and American Yacht clubs, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the Revolution, the New York Genealogical Society, the Metropohtan Museum of Art, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Order of Foreign Wars, the New England Society, the New York Historical Society, the Linnsean Society, the New York Academy of Medicine, the County Medical Society, and the Musical Art Society, of which last he is president. Dr. Hyde was married, on March 27, 1869, to Miss Ida Jo- sephine Babbitt, daughter of the late B. T. Babbitt. She died on January 22, 1890, having borne him seven children. Of these, two died in infancy. The others are Elizabeth Alvina, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt, Frederick Erastus, Ida Josephine, and Mabel LiUia. [S^(t HENRY BALDWIN HYDE WHEN the Rev. Thomas Hooker emigrated from England in 1633, he took with him, among other sons of worthy famihes, Wilham Hyde. The latter settled first in Newton, Mas- sachusetts, but in 163G followed the Rev. Mr. Hooker in his migra- tion to Connecticut, where they estahhshed Hartford Colony. Wilham Hyde became one of the principal landholders in the colony, and was active in all civic and religious affairs. His name is on the monument to the original settlers, in the old cemetery at Hartford, and several generations of his descendants are bmried there. He appears to have possessed the restless spirit of the true pioneer, for he removed to Saybrook when it was first estahhshed, and afterward to Norwich, where he died in 1681. His son Samuel, who accompanied him to Norwich, became one of the selectmen of the town. He married a daugh- ter of Thomas Lee of Lynn, England, who sailed with his fam- ily for the colonies in 1641, but died on the voyage. His wife and childi-en settled in Saybrook, Connecticut. To Samuel Hyde and his wife, Jane Lee, were born a large family of stm-dy sons and daughters. The fom-th son, Thomas Hyde, was born m 1673. He was a prosperous farmer, and hved to see the eighteenth centiuy more than half completed. He married Mary Backus, a daughter of one of the original settlers of Norwich. Abner Hyde, their third son, was born in 1706. In the next generation was Asa Hyde, born m Norwich in 1742 and died in 1812. He man-ied Lucy Rowland, and then- son, Wilkes Hyde of Catskill, New York, was the ginindfather of the subject of this biography. He married Sarah Hazeu, daughter of Jacob Hazen of Franklm, Connecticut. In 1805 was born Henry Hazen Hyde, who married Lucy Baldwin Beach, a daugh- 197 198 HENRY BALDWIN HYDE ter of the Rev. James Beach of Winsted, CoBnecticut. Mr. Hyde was one of the most successful insurance men of his day, and for many years represented the Mutual Life Insiu'ance Company of New York as its general manager in New England. Henry Baldwin Hyde, the second son of the foregoing, was born in Catskill, February 5, 1834. At the age of sixteen he came to New York city, and was employed as a clerk by Mer- ritt, Ely & Co., merchants, for two years. In 1852 he entered the office of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he remained seven years, first as a clerk and latterly as cashier of the company. In March, 1859, Mr. Hyde announced to the president, Frederick S. Winston, that he had concluded that there was need of a new life-insurance company, organized along new hues, and that he had decided to organize such a company. He thereupon tendered his resignation, to take effect immediately. The Equitable Life Assurance Company was incorporated on July 26 of the same year, and the rest of Mr. Hyde's active business life was spent in its development and interests. Elected at its incorporation vice-president and man- ager, he became president in 1874, and so continued until his death. Mr. Hyde's death, which occurred on May 2, 1899, was from heart trouble resulting from inflammatory rheumatism. He was a lifelong Republican, and a member of the Union, Union League, Lawyers', South Side Sportsmen's, Jekyll Island, and Press clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His wife, who was Miss Fitch, survives him; also his son, James H. Hyde, who is vice-president of the Equi- table, and a daughter, who is the wife of Sidney D. Ripley, trea- surer of the Equitable. DARWIN R. JAMES DARWIN R. JAMES comes of Pui'itan stock on both paternal and maternal sides. His ancestors were settled at Hingbam, Massacbusetts, as early as 1638, and later genera- tions gave members to serve in tbe Frencb and Indian and Revolutionary wars. His fatber was Lewis Lyman James, a manufacturer and merchant of woolen goods, and bis mother's maiden name was Cerintba Wells. He was born at Williams- burg, Massacbusetts, on May 14, 1834, and was educated at Mount Pleasant Boarding-school, Amherst, Massacbusetts. In January, 1850, Mr. James began work for a wholesale silk and dress-goods firm on Nassau Street, New York, for fifty dollars a year. For eight years be was in that business, with three different fii*ms. Then he formed a partnership with M. N. Packard, and entered the trade in indigo, spices, and East IncUa goods. For foi'ty-one years that firm, with one change of name, has pursued its honorable and profitable way, a fine example of American commercial probity and success. In the interest of his firm Mr. James has traveled extensively in the Philippines, India, and other remote lands, as weU as in all parts of the United States. Early in life Mr. James became interested in politics. His first vote was cast for Fremont and Dayton, and he has ever since been a conspicuous member of the Republican party. In the part of Brooklyn where be has made his home for manj^ years, be has been an important factor in the councils of the party, and for six years was president of his ward association. He has, however, held no pubhc office, though often urged to do so, save those of Park Commissioner in Brooklyn for six years, Representative in Congress for four years, and member 199 200 DAEWIN B. JAMES and chairman of the United States Board of Indian Conunis- sioners. He was appointed, also, a member of the commission named by Groveruor Black, in 1898, for the investigation of the canal administration of this State. Mr. James's career in Congress was conspicuous and impor- tant. He was the recognized leader of the forces of honest money, and succeeded in defeating the Bland Free-coinage Bill, and in securing the redemption and retirement of the "trade dollars." He also organized a great hterary bureau, with head- quarters in New York, which sent out vast quantities of sound- money literature to voters throughout the country. He effected the transfer of public land in Brooklyn for the estabhshment of the Wallabout Market, and was one of the organizers of the anti-monopoly movement in this State, as a result of which the Board of Railroad Commissioners was established. For twenty-four years Mr. James has been connected with the Board of Trade and Transportation of New York, being its secretary eighteen years and president nearly six years. He is officially connected with numerous financial concerns, such as the East Brooklyn Savings Bank, of which he has been fif- teen years secretary and fifteen years president, without salary, the Nassau Trust Company, the Franklin Trust Company, the Franklin Safe Deposit Company, the Brooklyn Real Estate Exchange, the Brooklyn Edison Electric Illuminating Com- pany, etc. He is also identified with the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, the Church Extension Committee of the Brooklyn Presbytery, and numerous other religious, educational, and benevolent enter- prises. For forty-six years he has been actively interested in a mission Sunday-school, most of the time as superintendent. He is a large owner of real estate in Brooklyn, and has devoted much attention to the sanitary and other interests of that city. Mr. James was married, in 1858, to Miss Mary Ellen Fairchild of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a woman of marked ability and force of character, who has been and is prominent in the work of the Presbyterian Church, the Woman's National Sabbath League, and the Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Society. Mr. James is a member of the Union League Club of Brooklyn, and was formerly a member of the Oxford and Brooklyn clubs. WALTER S. JOHNSTON WILLIAM JOHNSTON, the father of the subject of this sketch, was bom iu Ireland, in the early part of the cen- tury, and while a very young child came with his parents to the western continent. They settled first in St. John's, Newfound- land, where William received his education and began the study of his profession, which was that of an architect. Removing to Philadelphia, he completed his studies and established himself in his profession. He became an American citizen, and married an American wife. Miss Mary Tyndal. She was a native of Delaware, ai\d came of a good family, dating back to ante-Revo- lutionary days. Their son, Walter S. Johnston, was bom in Philadelphia, on January 13, 1843. The circumstances of his parents were ample enough to admit of a thorough education, and, after a course in a private school, he entered college, was graduated therefrom, and took up the study of law. When he was eighteen years of age, however, the Civil War was declared, and, like so many other youthful patriots, he thi'ew down his books to obey the first call to arms. He enlisted on April 18, 1861, less than a week after Fort Sumter was fired i;pon, and served imtil the troops were mustered out in July, 1865. He enlisted as a private, but was promoted rapidly, and was a captain of infantry before he was twenty-two. He took part in the battles of Antietam, Chicka- mauga, Cold Harbor, the siege of Petersburg, and the numerous battles thereabout, in one of which he was wounded, and wit- nessed the surrender of General Lee. Mr. Johnston returned to Philadelphia soon after the muster- ing out of the troops, and applied himself to the study of law again, being still intent upon making that his profession. After 201 202 WALTEB S. JOHNSTON pursuing his studies to some extent, lie removed to the West and settled in Missouri. There he completed his studies and was admitted to the bar. He entered upon the general practice of his profession, and met with a gratifying degree of success. His law partner, it is of interest to note, was the colonel of his old regiment in the Federal Ai-my. In the course of his practice Mr. Johnston had frequently to do with the affairs of financial institutions and large business corporations, and to these he paid increasing attention. Within a few years he became an authority upon matters of finance, and thus, when, in 1877, the National Bank of the State of Missouri fell into straits, he was appointed receiver of it. That bank was one of the largest financial institutions in the West, and the task of straightening out its affairs was no light one. But he did it so successfully that when the Marine National Bank of New York went down in the crash of 1884, he was sent for and ap- pointed its receiver, and thereafter resided in New York. In January, 1898, he was elected president of the American Surety Company, a position which he occupied for over a year. In February, 1899, he resigned this office, remaining as first vice- president, and accepted the presidency of the State Trust Com- pany. He has unofficial connections with other large financial companies. Mr. Johnston has never aspired to any public offices, and, beyond the interest felt by every patriotic citizen, has taken no active part in political affairs, his tastes not inclining in that direction. His business interests occupy the most of his time, and to them he devotes his best energies. His favorite diversion is yachting, and he is a member of the New York and Larchmont Yacht clubs. He is also a member of the Union, the Union League, the Army and Navy, and the Metropohtan clubs. Mr. Johnston is an unmarried man. JAMES ROBERT KEENE WALL STREET takes unto itself with equal welcome men from all lands and all walks of life. Some are foreign, some native-born ; some have inherited fortune, some have fought their way up from poverty. And no man can tell until the event is seen who shall prosper, this one or that. Among the great and successful speculators of the Street few, if any, have been better known than the subject of this sketch, nor have any had more marked fluctuations of fortune, nor have there been many whose antecedents pointed less toward such a career than did his. The sou of a cautious and conservative English merchant, he became one of the most daring of American speculators. Once a poor man earning meager daily wages by menial work, he became one of the money kings of the richest city in the Western world. It is a partly typical and partly unique career. James Robert Keene was bom in London, England, in 1838, the son of a wealthy merchant, and was educated at a private school in Lincolnshire and in a preparatory school of Trinity College, Dublin. Before he could enter the college, however, his father met \Wth serious business reverses, and came to America with his family. The first enthusiasm over the dis- covery of gold in California had not yet begun to wane, and to that State the family proceeded, settling at Shasta in 1852. There the boy of fourteen was compelled to reckon his schooling finished with a good English education and some Latin and French, and to go to work for his own living. His first occupa- tion was to take care of the horses at Eort Reading, and it may well be supposed that he there acquired that love of those ani- mals which has been so marked a characteristic of his later life. But in three months he had earned and saved enough to buy a 203 204: JAMES KOBEBT KEENE miner's outfit, and with it on his hack he set forth to seek " pay dirt." His success was at first indifferent. He did some mining, milUng, freighting, and stock-raising, and then was editor of a newspaper for two years. In none of these pursuits did he find the way to fortime. Then he left Cahfornia and went to Nevada, soon after the discovery of the famous Comstock lode. There he " struck it rich." He bought and sold mining property until he had money enough to go to San Francisco and begin the career of a stock speculator. In a few months he had more than a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars clear. Then he got married, his wife being Sara Daingerfield, daughter of Colonel Daingerfield of Virginia, and sister of Judge Daingerfield of Cali- fornia. He was now, he thought, on the sure road to foi'tune. But there was a sharp turn in the road. A crash in mining stocks came, and he was in a day made all but penniless. With indomitable spirit he began again, dealing in stocks in a small way. After a time he got in with Senator C. N. Felton, and transacted much business for him as his broker. When Mr. Felton became Assistant United States Treasurer he sold his seat in the Stock Exchange to Mr. Keene, although the latter did not have enough money to pay for it in cash. But once in the Ex- change, Mr. Keene rose rapidly to wealth and prominence. He soon became president of the Exchange. By shrewd purchases of stock in the Bonanza mines on the Comstock lode he reahzed a fortune of at least six million doUars. When the Bank of California failed, he was one of the four contributors of one million dollars cash to the guaranty fund of eight milUon dol- lars required to secure depositors against loss and to enable the bank to continue business. Through his influence the Stock Exchange was led to contribute five hundred thousand dollars, and individual members of it nearly as much more. Thus the bank was saved, and the whole Pacific coast saved from a disastrous blow. In the spring of 1877 Mr. Keene set out for Europe for rest and restoration of his health. Reaching New York, he foimd the stock market depressed and demoralized. Postponing his trip abroad, he entered Wall Street and began buying stocks right and left. The market improved ; prices went up ; and JAMES EGBERT KEENE 205 in the autnmn of 1879 he was able to sell out his holdings and sail for Eiu-ope nine milhon dollars richer than when he came to New York. Since his return from that European trip Mr. Keene has made his home in or near New York. He has taken part m many im- portant operations in Wall Street, and has had varied fortunes there. At times he has seemed on the verge of entire disaster ; but his steady nerve, his thorough knowledge of the market, and his indomitable will have carried him through and made him in the long run a gainer of great profits. As one of the founders and steward of the Jockey Club, Mr. Keene has been conspicuously identified with horse-racing, per- haps as conspicuously and intimately as any man of his time. His horse "Foxhall" will be especially remembered as the winner of two or thi'ee great races in England and France. He is also a member of the Rockaway Hunt Club, to the interests of which he has paid much attention. In the city he belongs to the Racquet Club. His home is at Cedarhurst, on Long Island. His childi-en are Foxhall Parker Keene, who married Miss Lawrence of Bayside, Long Island, and Jessie Harwar Keene, now the wife of Talbot I. Taylor of Baltimore. ELIJAH ROBINSON KENNEDY ELIJAH ROBINSON KENNEDY was bom in Hartford, Connecticut. The family had come early to that colony, being among the first settlers of Windham, where the town of Hampton was first called Kennedy. The hst of Mr. Kennedy's ancestors includes the names of Governor WiUiam Bradford, Lieutenant Jonathan Rudd, Major John Mason, the Reverend James Fitch, Colonel Ehjah Robinson of the Revolutionary War, Major Elijah Robinson of the War of 1812 (father and son, lineal descendants of Pastor John Robinson of the Pilgrims), Daniel Cannady of Salem, and Leonard Kennedy of Hartford. When he was but an infant his family moved to the far West of that period, and settled in Milwaukee. Here he received his education in the public schools, including the then renowned Seventh Ward High School, and at Milwaukee University. The memory of the university is perpetuated by an association of which Mr. Kennedy is president. Just before the Civil War the family removed to MarysviUe, Cahfornia. During this period young Kennedy began the study of law, but was compelled to abandon his cherished preference for a professional career. Sub- sequently his parents returned to Hartford, and he found em- ployment in a wholesale dry-goods store in New York city, shortly before the close of the war. His advancement in business was rapid, and in a few years he became a partner in a prosperous jobbing house. Soon after, however, he chose to retire from mercantile business, and about twenty-five years ago he entered into partnership with Samuel R. Weed in the insurance business. The firm of Weed & Kennedy is perhaps more strongly equipped than any similar concern in the world. It embraces marine, casualty, Uability, and other departments, and has the United 206 ELIJAH BOBINSON KENNEDY 207 States management of six European fire-insui-ance companies. Mr. Kennedy lias served on several of tlie most important com- mittees of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters, and was twice president of the board. His most influential and distin- guished work was done while he was chairman of the committee that prepared the standard fire-insurance policy of New York State, which, with little or no change, has been generally adopted thi-oughout the entire country. He has always concen- trated his energies, and has, therefore, refused all offers of dii-ec- torships in banks, trust companies, and similar institutions. But he does not withhold his support from movements for amelio- rating the conditions of society, and he is a trustee of the Brook- lyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, a regent of the Long Island College Hospital, a director of the New England Society in Brooklyn, and president of the National Society to Erect a Monument to the Prison-Ship Martyrs of the Revolution. He is also a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the Revolution, and the Order of Free and Accepted Masons. He was for many years active in politics, frequently exercising considerable influence on nominations ; and there is no exciting campaign when his voice is not heard in advocacy of the principles of the Republican party. He was never a can- didate, except in 1877, when, with his consent, he was proposed for Consul-Geueral to London. President Hayes stated to one of his friends that Mr. Kennedy's appointment " was determined on "; but Greneral Grrant afterward made such a strong personal appeal for the retention of General Badeau that the administra- tion could not disregard it, and no change was made in the incum- bency of the London place. Mr. Kennedy served two terms as park commissioner in Brooklyn. During his terms of office several of the most important and diu'able improvements to Prospect Park were begun. He was at this time most instru- mental in defeating a corrupt scheme for erecting a costly soldiers' monument in front of the Brooklyn City Hall. He proposed as an alternative a memorial arch at the entrance to Prospect Park, a proposal which was ultimately adopted. But his most im- portant and memorable pulilic service was done in connection with the Shore Road. The wisdom of converting the country 208 ELIJAH BOBINSON KENNEDY road extending along the shore of the bay and the Narrows from Bay Ridge Avenue to Fort Hamilton into a public pleasure drive had often been mentioned, but the project that finally took shape was entirely the conception of Mr. Kennedy, and it was due solely to his energetic and persistent labors that acts of legislation were obtained creating a commission to design a magnificent parkway, and providing several milhons of dollars for the purchase of the requisite property and for beginnmg its development .and improvement. He was president of the commission that perfected the plans for the improvement, and that had the vast work well estabhshed before the absorption of the city of Brooklyn in the city of New York. Mr. Kennedy has traveled over much of his own country, has visited Mexico and Central America, and has made several extensive tours in Europe, where he has a large circle of acquaintances in several countries. He is an enthusiastic pho- tographer, and after a foreign trip is accustomed to lecture, using many of his views in lantern-slides. His purpose origi- nally was thus to entertain his friends at home ; but people inter- ested in philanthropic societies have insisted on his lecturing for their benefit, and he declares that on his terms he is in great demand. " I get nothing," he says, " and pay for my own cab." Although a member of several popular clubs in New York and Brooklyn, he is an infi-equent visitor to any of them. He has a house at Southampton, Long Island, and his home in Brooklyn, directly opposite Prospect Park, is to him a more attractive spot than any club, while the members of his family are his most congenial associates. His library comprises nearly five thousand volumes, and is constantly growing. Although a student as weU as a reader, he seldom writes for publication, but in 1897 he pre- pared a volume of biography of his friend the late Greneral John B. Woodward. Mr. Kennedy is a high-minded man, incapable of envy or revenge, fond of the society of the wise, and extremely generous and hospitable. Although past fifty years of age, his cheerful disposition and his robust health have preserved the ardor and enthusiasm of his youth quite imimpaired. HENRY SCANLAN KERR THE Kerr family is of English origin, and was planted in this country early in this century. The Seanlan family came from Wickf ord, Ireland, and is descended from the Power family, of which Tyrone Power, the actor, and Sir William Tyrone Power, M. P., were members. WiUiam H. KeiT, State prosecu- tor of Ohio, and Harriet Ellen Seanlan of Montreal, Canada, were married and settled in Cincinnati. There, on September 4, 1866, their son, Henry Seanlan KeiT, was born. He was first sent to the public schools of Cincinnati, and to Chickering Institute, but was so wild and self-willed that it was impossible to get him to attend to his studies. So he was sent to Montgomery Bell Academy, a part of the University of Nash- ville, Tennessee, to see if anything could be done with him there. At first he was as heedless of study as ever. But one day he quarreled with the boy who stood at the head of the class, made up liis mind to beat him in scholarship, and, to the amazement of all, did so at the next examination. Thereafter he stood at the head of the school in scholarship, and was gradu- ated, valedictorian of his class, in 1883, carrying off the final prize and highest honors. He was also as conspicuous in athletics as in scholarship. After some experience in a Cincinnati insurance office and on a Louisiana sugar plantation, he came to New York in Septem- ber, 1885, and entered the office of his uncle, Charles T. Wing of Wall Street, then one of the foremost dealers in raih-oad bonds. There he learned the business of banking and brokerage. A few years later Mr. Wing died, and then Mr. Kerr thought he should be taken into the firm. He told his employers, the new firm, that if he were not admitted he would set up an office of his 209 210 HENRY SCANLAN KERR own. They told him to go ahead. Thereupon he formed a partnership with Henry S. Redmond, a young Wall Street man, and a special partnership with Mr. Grilbert M. Plympton, a lawyer and capitahst. Mr. Plympton was eventually taken into full partnership, and Thomas A. Gardiner was also admitted. Mr. Kerr kept his own counsel until the new firm-name was being painted on the door of No. 41 Wall Street, on May 1, 1892. The success of the firm from the start was remarkable. Honest, conservative, and intelligent effort, coupled with ex- traordinary energy, soon put the house among the foremost in WaU Street, and it has been increasing in wealth and importance each year. It has been declared to do the largest individual business in investment securities in Wall Street, and it has the enviable record of never having sold a security which has later defaulted on its interest. The force of this remark is evident when it is estimated that the house has distributed among over ten thousand investors over one hundred and fifty million dollars of seciirities. In order to accomplish this end, the house was one of the first to institute a department for the thorough examina- tion of properties in the securities of which the house deals, so that the name of the house is now a trade-mark of standard value. The house has taken active part in most of the large financial transactions carried through in recent years, including reorganizations, refunding schemes, government and railroad bond issues, too numerous to mention, being associated therein with aU the great WaU Street banking-houses. Mr. Kerr is also senior member of the house of Graham, Kerr & Co., of Philadelphia. Mr. Kerr enlisted as a private in Troop A, the crack New York cavalry organization, in 1890, and was honorably discharged as first sergeant in 1895, after admirable service in the Brooklyn and Buffalo strike riots, and elsewhere. He was married, in 1895, to Miss Olive Grace, daughter of John W. Grace of New York. They have one son. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Union, the Union League, Racquet and Tennis, Country, and New York Yacht clubs, the Ohio Society, and the Down-Town Association. \ 'fVlyi^y^ ^^^UjjU-ai2jy ROBERT JACKSON KIMBALL ROBERT JACKSON KIMBALL, banker, of Randolph, Ver- mont, and New York city, was bom at Randolph, Vermont, on February 16, 1836. His ancestors were English, and emigrated to this coimtry in 1634. He is in the eighth generation from Richard Kimball, who came over in the ship Elizabeth, and set- tled at Watertown, Massachusetts, and thence removed to Ips- wich, where the remainder of his hf e was spent. The direct line of descent from Richard Kimball was thi'ough John Kimball, Richard Kimball II, Richard Kimball III, John Kimball II, Richard Kimball IV, and Hiram Kimball, to the subject of this sketch. Mr. Kimball's great-grandfather, John Kimball II, and grandfather, Richard Kimball IV, both served in the Revolution- ary War in Colonel Samuel B. Webb's Third Connecticut Regi- ment. Mr. Kimball's grandfather removed from Pomfret, Connecti- cut, to Randolph, Vermont, about the year 1795, and in that town the grandfather, father, and son have for more than one hundi'ed years continuously maintained a family home. Educated in the common schools and the West Randolph Academy, Mr. Kimball decided upon a business career, and en- tered upon it in early life. He hved in his native State until after he had attained his majority, his occupations including tele- graphic and express service on the railroads of Vermont. He engaged in the business of a banker at Toronto, Canada, in 1862, and two years later was appointed United States consul at that place. Toronto was then the headquarters of a number of prominent refugees from the Southern States, who were striving to use Canada as a base of operations in the interest of the Con- federacy and against the United States. He was the means of 2U 212 ROBERT JACKSON KIMBALL communicating important information to the United States gov- ernment concerning the manufacture of cannon and the fitting out of hostile expeditions on Lake Erie and elsewhere. He also gave information that led to the capture of Robert Cobb Ken- nedy, the leader of the gang which, in November, 1864, set fii-e to ten hotels and other crowded buildings in New York city, and attempted to destroy as much of the city as possible, regard- less of the loss of life. Fortunately the fires were discovered, and the men failed in their purpose and fled to Canada. In his official duties as consul, Mr. Kimball met Kennedy, recognized him by a photograph, and notified the authorities, so that when the criminal returned to the United States he was captured, taken to Fort Lafayette in New York harbor, tried for violating the rules of war and acting as a spy, convicted, and hanged. At the end of the war, in 1865, Mr. Kimball came to New York city and established a banking house, which still continues, under the firm-name of R. J. Kimball & Co. The course of this firm has been generally most successful. In 1872, owing to a great dechne in value of securities in the panic which character- ized that year, he was unable to meet all demands upon him, and was compelled accordingly to suspend payments to his creditors. Within forty-eight hours, however, he settled with his creditors by payment of twenty-five cents on the dollar, receiving a discharge from all further obligations, and was thus enabled to resume business. In 1881 he voluntarily paid the other seventy-five per cent, of his obligations, together with interest thereon at six per cent., the whole amounting to many thousands of dollars. Mr. Kimball became, in January, 1867, a member of the Open Board of Brokers, which was, in May, 1869, consolidated with the New York Stock Exchange, whereupon he became a member of the latter organization. While having a business in New York, on the death of his father, in 1865, Mr. Eamball assumed the affairs of the home in Vermont, where he spent more or less of his time every year. He resumed his citizenship in his native town in 1886, and built a new residence. He was an aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Dillingham of Vermont, with the rank of colonel, from 1888 to 1890. He ROBEBT JACKSON KIMBALL 213 represented the town of Randolph in the Legislature of 1890-91, serving on the standing committees on ways and means and on banks, and on a special joint committee on the World's Colum- bian Exposition. In 1899 he was elected trustee of the University of Vermont and Agricultural College, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the late Senator Justin S. Morrill. Mr. Kimball has shown his public spirit and generosity in many ways in dif- ferent enterprises in his native town. He has there, as already stated, erected a new residence in lieu of the old family home- stead, and has made it a conspicuously attractive house, and a worthy monument of taste. He also maintains a home in Brooklyn, New York, where he has a handsome house replete with evidences of culture and refinement. Mr. Kimball has long been prominently connected, as trustee, with various important religious, charitable, and other institu- tions in Brooklj-n, including the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and the People's Trust Company. In September, 1898, he was elected president of the Iowa Central Railway Company. In both public and private life he stands high in the regard of all who know him as a citizen and a man. He was united in marriage with Martha L., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Morse, in 1863. Their children are two daughters, Clara Louise and Annie Laura, and one son, W. Eugene Kimball. The last- named was gi-aduated at Amherst College in 1896, and at once started in the banking business with his father, and was admitted to the fii'm of R. J. KimbaU & Co. in January, 1898. WILLIAM F. KING THE stories of mercantile careers are greatly varied. There are some men who try one occupation after another in succes- sion, until at last they hit upon the one for which they seem fitted and in which they achieve success. There are those who, sticking consistently to the one calling, remove from one estab- hshment or firm to another, perhaps many times, before reaching the place in which then- ultimate achievements are made. There are also those, whose careers are by no means the least interest- ing, who at the beginning enter not only the calling but the individual house in which their entire business course is to be run. Such last has been the record of the well-known president of the Merchants' Association of New York. William F. King, who was bom in New York city on Decem- ber 27, 1850, is the son of Charles King, a man of German birth, who had a successful career in New York as a grocer, and who, having retired from active business, died in August, 1899. Mr. King's mother, w^hose name before her marriage was Ella Elliott, was bom in Ireland. Mr. King was educated in Pubhc School No. 3, in New York city, and was destined from the first for a mercantile career. On leaving school, while yet in boyhood, he entered, in 1866, the employment of the well-known firm of Calhoun, Robbins & Co. of New York, importers of and wholesale dealers in fancy goods and notions. His first place was, of course, a subordinate one. But he quickly manifested an aptitude for the work, and won the favors of his employers. The details of the business were mastered by him, one by one, and promotions consequently came to him from time to time. Thus he rose, step by step, through all the ranks, from that of errand boy, to be, as he is at 214 /^^^ ^^Z-cct WILLIAM F. KING 215 the present time, a partner in the firm. Such, in brief, is the story of his business career. In the course of his active and successful career Mr. King has found no time, or felt no inclination, to engage in political affairs beyond discharging the duties of a citizen. He has, however, o-iven much time and labor to various non-political undertakings for the promotion of commercial interests and for the conserva- tion of the public weKare. The beneficent works of the Mer- chants' Association, in attracting trade to New York, in investi- gating the water-supply needs of the city, and in other directions, are fresh in the pubhc mind. In his capacity as president of the association Mr. King has been foremost and most efficient in these. He has not, either, sought other business relationships apart from the firm with which he has so long been identified. He has, indeed, avoided all directorships and trusteeships in other corpo- rations, especially during his official connection with the Mer- chants' Association. Besides being president of the Merchants' Association, Mr. King is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, the New York ConsoHdated Exchange, the St. John's Guild, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natui-al History, the Fine Arts Society, the Zoological Gardens, and the Merchants', City, New York Athletic, Colonial, and National Arts clubs. Mr. King was married, in 1883, to Miss Martha Kneeland Danolds, a native of Albion, New York. Four children have been born to them. Of these, two, Wilham F. and Sarah Kneeland, are now deceased. The others, Martha ElUott and Hildegaarde, are living. DARWIN PEARL KINGSLEY IN the closing years of the seventeenth century, three brothers, named Eangsley, came from England and settled, one in Maine, one in Massachusetts, and one in Connecticut. Each of these was the founder of a worthy Une of American de- scendants. The subject of the present sketch belongs to the Massachusetts family, founded by the second of three brothers. Four generations ago one of the sons of that branch of the family removed from Massachusetts, where he had been bom in 1765, to Bennington, Vermont, and his five sons all settled in theu" turn in northern Vermont. One of these, Nathan Kingsley, made his home in Grand Isle Coimty, Vermont, and there his descendants have chiefly remained down to the present time. In the last generation Hu'am Pearl Kingsley was a pros- perous farmer at Albui-g, Vermont. He was a leading citizen, a member of the Vermont Legislature, and generally respected for his strict probity. He married Miss Ceha P. La Due, of French ancestry, who is now living in St. Albans, Vermont. The son of this couple, Darwin Pearl Kingsley, was bom at Alburg, on May 5, 1857. He was fitted for college at Barre Academy, Barre, Vermont, and in 1877 was matriculated at the University of Vermont, at Burlington. Four years later he was graduated with the degree of A. B., and in 1884 he received the advanced degree of A. M. It should be added that his student life was interspersed with farm work, school-teaching, news- paper work, etc., to pay his way. At college he "boarded him- self" and rang the college bell in payment of fees. Thus he worked his own way through the academy and university. He got a good education, and he learned at the same time to appre- ciate the value of it from its cost. 216 DAEWIN PEAKL KINGSLEY 217 On leaving the university in 1881, he went to Colorado, and fliat fall became a school-teacher for a year. He was a pio- neer in opening western Colorado to settlement, after the re- moval of the Ute Indians. In 1883 he became editor of the Grand Junction (Colorado) " News." The next year he was one of Colorado's delegates to the National Repubhcan Convention. His work as an editor and his ability as a pubhc speaker quickly made him prominent in Colorado politics, and in 1886 he was elected State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner on the Re- publican ticket. The last-named ofi&ce inchned Mr. Kingsley toward the calhng ill which he is now successfully engaged. At the close of his term he left Colorado and returned to the East. He first settled in the State which, as a colony, had been the home of his earliest American ancestor, and entered the service of the New York Life Insurance Company in its Boston office. That was in 1889. His aptness for the work and his success in execution of it speedily marked him for promotion. In 1892 he was called to New York, and was made superintendent of agencies at the home office of the company. Six years later he was elected a trustee and third vice-president of the company, in which places he remains. Mr. Kingsley is a member of the Union League Club, the University Club, the Merchants' Club, the St. Andrew's GoK Club, the Ardsley Casino Club, and the New England Society of New York. He is also a trustee of the University of Vermont. Mr. Kingsley has been twice married. His first wife was Mary M. Mitchell, whom he married at Milton, Vermont, in June, 1884. She died at Brookhne, Massachusetts, in August, 1890, leaving him one son, Walton Pearl Kingsley. He was mamed the second time in New York, on December 3, 1895, his wife being Josephine McCall, daughter of the Hon. John A. McCall, president of the New York Life Insurance Company. Two children have been bom to him in his second marriage : Hope Kingsley, and Darwin Pearl Kingsley, Jr. PERCIVAL KUHNE THE Kiihne family has for many generations been conspicu- ous among the landed proprietors of Magdeburg, Germany, and the vicinity of that historic city. Among its members, in the early part of this century, was Johann Friedrich Kiihne, who was an accomplished musician and one of the most noted clarionet- players of his day. He was an associate of Richard Wagner and of the other great German musicians, though he practised the art not as a profession, but merely as a means of personal plea- sure. His son, Frederick Kiihne, born at Magdeburg in 1824, after founding the banking-house of Knauth, Nachod & Kiihne in New York, was made the consul-general of all the German states except Prussia. He filled that important place with eminent success for more than sixteen years preceding the forma- tion of the German Empire in 1871, and then retired with many decorations of distinction and knighthood. He founded the well-known New York banking-house of Knauth, Nachod & Kiihne, which to-day occupies high rank in the financial world. He married Miss Ellen Josephine Miller, a descendant of an old distinguished English family. The second son of Frederick and Ellen Josephine Kiihne was bom in this city on April 6, 1861, and was named Percival Kiihne. He was educated in the city schools, and in the College of the City of New York, and then for several years completed his education at Leipsic, Germany. It was Mr. Kiihne's intention to follow his father's vocation as a banker. Accordingly, upon his return to this country from his studies at Leipsic, he entered the banking-house of Knauth, Nachod & Kiihne, in a subordinate capacity, and devoted his at- tention to a thorough mastery of the details of the business. 218 ^^ PERCIVAL KiJHNE 219 His natural aptitude for financial affairs and his careful scholas- tic training and mental discipline made his progress sure but by no means slow. He was promoted from rank to rank, and eventually became a partner in the fii-m. The elder Mr. Kiihne died in Paris, in April, 1890, and thereupon his son succeeded to his full interest in the firm. Mr. Kiihne has paid as a member of the firm the same inces- sant and conscientious attention to the details of business that he paid when he was a subordinate learning the business. He has given to it hkewise the benefit of his admirable judgment and foresight, and his unwavering integrity, thus amply sustain- ing the estabhshed reputation of the house for probity and suc- cess. But his business activities have not by any means been confined to the counting-room. His high standing as a banker has caused him to be eagerly sought after by other financiers, to lend strength and judgment to their enterprises. Thus he be- came one of the organizers and is now a trustee of the Colonial Trust Company. He is a trustee and a member of the finance committee of the Citizens' Savings Bank. He is also a trus- tee of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company and of the Colonial Safe Deposit Company. Nor has he confined himself to purely financial affairs. His interest has extended to new inventions and manufactures. He became identified with the Pintsch Light- ing Company, as director and secretary of that corporation, which was later amalgamated with the Safety Car Heating and Light- ing Company. He is also a director and vice-president of the Regina Music Box Company. Mr. Kuhne has held no political office, and has sought none, contenting himself pohtieally with the discharge of the duties of an intelhgent and local private citizen. Mr. Kiihne is a member of the Union, Metropolitan, Union League, and Calumet clubs, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Garden, the New York Zoological Crarden, Holland Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Seventh Regiment Veteran Association. He was married, on January 31, 1893, to Miss Lillian Middleton Kerr, daughter of the late Hamilton B. Kerr of New York. They have no children. JOHN CAMPBELL LATHAM JOHN CAMPBELL LATHAM, the thii-d of that name— his father and grandfather having borne it before him, — is a Kentuckian by birth, but by ancestry a Virginian of Virginians on both sides of the family. The first of the Lathams in this country was James Latham, who came over from England and settled in Culpeper County, Virginia, in early colonial times. From him the hue of descent has run unbroken down to the subject of this sketch, Dm-ing the closing years of the last cen- tury a great tide of migration set westward from Virginia to what is now the State of Kentucky, and among the foremost in that movement were some of the Lathams, including the direct ancestors of our subject. To the development of Kentucky they gave the same devotion and efficiency that earher generations of the same family had given to the upbuilding of the Old Dominion. On the maternal side, also, Mr. Latham is of pure cavaUer ancestry, his mother's family having been among the earhest colonists of Virginia. Two generations back. Dr. David Glass of Richmond, Virginia, was one of the foremost physicians and surgeons in the country. He temporarily forsook his profession to engage in the "War of 1812, and as a patriotic officer of unerr- ing skill and unfaiUng courage he distinguished himself as greatly upon the field of battle as in the healing art of medicine. Dr. Glass's daughter Virginia became the wife of the second John Campbell Latham. The latter was one of the foremost citizens of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He is described as having been a man of affairs in the highest and best sense of the term. Sound judgment, business abihty, and unimpeachable character assured him great success in his undertakings, and fitted him 220 C36^ e «. JOHN CAMPBELL LATHAM 221 well for the maBy places of trust to wluch he was called by the lu-gent choice of his fellow-citizens. To this latter couple was born the subject of this sketch, John Campbell Latham III, at Hopkinsville, Christian County, Ken- tucky, on October 22, 1844. He was well instructed in primary and secondary schools, and was just about to enter the Univer- sity of Virginia when the Civil War broke out. At the first call to arms he threw down his books and enlisted iu the Confederate forces. He did not once leave the field, even on furlough, until Lee surrendered at Appomattox. From November, 1862, until the suiTender, he served on General Beauregard's staff in va- rious capacities of closest confidence with that commander. At the close of the war he returned to Kentucky. His first venture was the estabhshment of a dry-goods firm in Hopkinsville, which business he conducted successfully for three years. In 1870 he closed out his Kentucky interests and came to New York. Having a decided partiality for finances, he went at once into WaU Street. In 1871 he founded the now widely known banking-house of Latham, Alexander & Co., which has survived the varying fortunes of Wall Street for more than a quarter of a century without a change of name. Besides general banking, the firm has for years done a large cotton commission and invest- ment business. To Mr. Latham's indefatigable energy and unvarying integrity must be credited the excellent reputation and signal success of the house over which he has presided. His whole life is devoted to business and to his home. Neither social clubs nor political organizations have any attraction for him. He has always stu- diously shunned pubUc office, even to the extent of avoiding official connection with any and all corporations. He has done much for the material advancement of his native town, and takes a great pride in its prosperity. In 1887 he erected in Hopkinsville a magnificent monument to the memory of the unknown Confederate dead who were buried there. It is one of the handsomest memorials of the kind iu the South, and weU bespeaks the donor's reverence for his dead comrades-at- arms, who gave their hves for the cause they beheved to be just. Mr. Latham was married, on November 19, 1874, to Miss Mary L. Allen, daughter of Thomas H. Allen of Memphis, Tennessee. EDWARD LAUTERBACH EDWARD LAUTERBACH, whose brilliant career as a law- yer and politician has made his one of the most familiar names in New York, was bom in New York city on August 12, 1844. His education was begun in the public schools and contin- ued in the College of the City of New York, from which institu- tion he was graduated with honors in 1864. He worked hard in school and college, as one to whom study was a privilege rather than a drudgery, and as soon as he received his degree entered upon a course of law in the offices of Townsend, Dyett & Morrison. Alter his admission to the bar he became a member of this firm, which was then reorganized under the name of Morrison, Lau- terbach & Spingarn. The death of Mr. Spingarn terminated the partnership, and Mr. Lauterbach formed his present connection with the firm of Hoadley, Lauterbach & Johnson. Individually, the firm is an unusually strong one, and is well known throughout the country. Mr. Lauterbach has made an exhaustive study of the statutes relating to corporate bodies, and has a high standing at the bar as a speciahst in this department of practice. He has success- fully conducted a large number of important litigations involving intricate points of law, and has a wide reputation for being able to settle large cases outside the courts. In addition to his other practice, Mr. Lauterbach is a promi- nent figure in railroad circles as an organizer. He was insti'u- mental in bringing about the consolidation of the Union and Brooklyn Elevated roads, and the creation of the Consohdated Telegraph and Electrical Subway, and was concerned in the re- organization of many railroads. He is coimsel for and a director of a number of street surface railroads, among others the Third Avenue system. 222 a / li L 'a ^cL 4::t (^tJ^r/^Uiy ■ \: EDWAED LAUTEEBACH 223 Mr. Lauterbach has always been a Republican, and bas taken as active a part in State and local politics as the absorbing natui-e of his profession would permit. For some years he was chair- man of the Repubhcan County Committee of New York, and was associated with Chauncey M. Depew, Thomas C. Piatt, Frank S. Witherbee, and Frank Hiscock in the advisory com- mittee of the Republican State Committee. In the Republican National Convention held at St. Louis in 1896 he was a delegate at large from New York, was the member from New York of the committee on resolutions, and was one of the sub-committee of nine appointed to draft the platform, the financial plank of which presented the greatest issue that had been before the American people for many years. Mr. Lauterbach was one of the three delegates at large from the city of New York to the Consti- tutional Convention, which met in June, 1894. He was made chairman of the committee on pubhc charities, an appointment which was considered highly appropriate, as he has been very prominent in all philanthropic and benevolent work, and is con- nected officially with many charitable organizations. The cause of education has a sympathetic and practical friend in Mr. Lauterbach, who has done much in various ways for its advancement. Mr. Lauterbach is mamed, and has four children. The old- est, a son, was educated for his father's profession, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one. The other three are daughters. Mrs. Lauterbach has for years been a conspic- uous figure in New York society, not only in its brilhancy and pleasure-seeking, but also in its beneficent activities. She be- came interested in the Consumers' League, and did much to seciu-e legislation for the benefit of women employed in factories. She has also been interested in the movement for woman suf- frage, the Grood Government clubs, the Prison Guild, and many other enterprises for the improvement of social, industrial, and educational conditions. LYSANDER WALTER LAWRENCE 'TTAPPY the people whose annals are blank in the history JLIL books," said Carlyle. Even more true is it of the man whose quiet life enables him to keep out of the " history books." Such a man is Lysander Walter Lawrence. He has no war record. He has held no pohtical of&ce, and has never wanted one. He has never caused a public sensation. Yet he has lived a happy, prosperous, useful hfe, full of kind deeds, essentially a friendly hfe ; and now, although he is far from having " fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf," he has, and in abimdance, " that which should accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends." Mr. Lawrence was bom in Albany, New York, on July 30, 1836. He grew up in that cultivated city and was educated in its best schools. In April, 1858, he came to New York city and entered on a business career which has been steadily suc- cessful. Li 1863 he married an estimable lady of Savannah, Georgia, with whom he enjoyed the most perfect marital bliss for thirty-five years, imtil her death in 1898. He has just built and presented to the village of Palenville, in New York State, where he and Ms wife were accustomed to spend their summers, the Rowena Memorial, a very handsome stone building fitted with every best modern device, in which the two district schools of the village have been consolidated. When Mr. Lawrence came to New York he obtained employ- ment with a prominent firm of manufactm-ing stationers. Five years later he was admitted to the firm, and siibsequently, on the death of some of the partners and the retirement of others, he became sole proprietor of the concern, which is now one of /:2>a^/^ -^=^kP ^^^U^>ir-Z&£^ LYSANDEK WALTEE LAWKENCE 225 the most important of its kind in the United States. It is a noteworthy fact that in the entii'e forty-one years of his business Ufa Mr. Lawrence has remained within a stone's throw of the spot where he began, in Nassau Street, near Pine Street. Mer- chants have moved far away. Banks and insui'ance companies have gone, sometimes up-town and sometimes down. Building after building in which he was located has been demolished to make room for immense new edifices. But he has stuck close to the old stand, and has held most of his original patrons. Pos- sibly most of Mr. Lawrence's friends, if called on to mention his chief trait, would at once declare that it is fidelity — fidehty in business and in social relationships. But on second thought they would probably agi'ee that his most marked characteristic is friend- liness. If some customer wishes a peculiar trinket for his desk, Mr. Lawrence will provide it — the more certainly if it prove diffi- cult to obtain. Not for the profit to be made on it. The chances are that if he has to send to the other side of the world for it, or have it invented and newly made, he will deliver it with a bill for a quarter of its cost, after which he will retire to his private office and quietly enjoy the pleasure he has conferred. If a faithful clerk gi'ows unwontedly serious and at times appears troubled, he may find, some evening after he has kissed his wife and the baby, that the formidable-looking envelop that came by a late mail contains a " satisfaction piece " as proof that the mortgage on his house has been paid off — by Mr. Lawrence, of com'se. If some institution for improving and gratifying public taste has a specific need, Mr. Lawrence will offer aid for the purpose, provided his name be kept out of the subscription list. If some family be in want of food or fuel or money to pay the rent, a natural affinity will bring the case to the knowledge of this shy, retiring man, and then the distress will be reheved. And such deeds will be done because Mr. La^vrence is impelled by the glowing power of friendship — for the young clerk quite as much as for the bank president, for the destitute family quite as truly as for the popular institution. In truth, so genial and friendly is this man that no person, even a stranger, can en- counter him five minutes in his place of business without going out more cheerful than he went in. Thus the world is better because Walter Lawrence is living in it. JAMES D. LAYNG THE history of the development of the American nation is, industrially, largely a history of railroads. In no other coun- try have raih'oads been built on so enterprising a scale, and in no other have they done so much for the material upbuilding of the nation, or contributed so much to the progress of social and pohtical affairs. For beyond doubt the great trunk-lines stretch- ing in all directions over the continent are one of the most potent factors in binding together all parts of the Union in a harmo- nious whole. Naturally, therefore, railroad men figvire largely in the national biography. It is with such a man that we are at present to deal. James D. Layng is the son of George W. Layng, a lawyer, and Ehzabeth N. Layng, and was born at Columbia, Pennsylvania, on August 30, 1833. His father was born in the north of Ire- land, of Scotch and Irish ancestry, and his mother was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Irish ancestry. He was educated at the Western University, of Pennsylvania, at Pittsburg, and was graduated there in the class of 1849. His attention was imme- diately thereafter centered upon railroading, and to that business it has been chiefly devoted ever since, with more than ordinary success. It was on August 9, 1849, when he was scarcely sixteen years old, and had been out of college only a few weeks, that he began work as a rod-man in the engineer corps engaged in building the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad. He remained at that work until March 12, 1850, when he became level-man in the same service. On May 1, 1850, he became an assistant engineer of construction of the same road ; on November 25, 1851, resident engineer of construction of the SteubenviUe and Indiana Rail- road; in November, 1853, resident engineer of construction of 226 ^tK ,^i^ :z^'^yC JAMES D. LAYNG 227 the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad ; in January, 1856, chief engineer of maintenance of way ; and in April, 1858, superin- tendent of the Steuben ville and Indiana Railroad ; in October, 1865, superintendent of the eastern division of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, into which the old Ohio and Pennsylvania road had been transformed; in July, 1871, assistant manager, and in August, 1874, general manager of the Pennsylvania Company's lines, including the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago, formerly Ohio and Pennsylvania, so that thus, after twenty-five years, he became general manager of the very road on which he began his work as a surveyor's rod- man. In July, 1881, he became general superintendent of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Since January 1, 1884, he has been general manager of the West Shore Railroad ; from April, 1887, to July, 1890, he was president of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapohs Railroad ; since July 1, 1890, he has been vice-president of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ; and since December 1, 1890, he has been general manager of the Beech Creek Raih'oad. At the present time Mr. Layng is vice-president and general manager of the West Shore Railroad, vice-president of the C, C, C. & St. L. Railroad, general manager of the Wallkill Valley Railroad, general manager of the Beech Creek Railroad, vice- president of the Illinois Zinc Company, and a director of the West Shore Railroad, the New York & Harlem Raih-oad, the C, C, C. & St. L. Railroad, the Wallkill Valley Railroad, the New Jersey Junction Railroad, the West Shore & Ontario Terminal Company, the Lincoln National Bank of New York, the City Trust Company of New York, and the Iron City National Bank of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. With this imposing array of business interests, Mr. Layng has found no time for office-holding or for active participation in politics, apart from the duties of a private citizen. He is a member of the Union League, Metropolitan, and Transportation clubs, and the Ohio Society of New York. Mr. Layng was married, on February 13, 1862, to Miss Agnes Means of Steubenville, Ohio. Their children are named Frank S., Addie M., Mary L., Agnes W., and James Dawson Layng, Jr. J. EDGAR LEAYCRAFT J EDGAR LEAYCRAFT is a native of New York, and a • son of the late Anthony D. Leaycraft, who was also of New York birth. He was bom in the Ninth Ward, and his first education was had in the public school on Thirteenth Street, near Seventh Avenue. From it he was graduated to the Free Academy, which has since become known as the College of the City of New York. In the latter institution he was able to remain only one year, at the end of which he decided to bid farewell to school, and to enter practical business life. His first engagement was in a broker's office on Pine Street. He was then a mere boy, and began with a boy's work and a boy's pay. But his diligence and apphcation secured him advancement, so that at the age of eighteen years he was cashier and bookkeeper of a firm doing a large banking and brokerage business. Not long after this the firm dissolved, and he was compelled to look elsewhere for employment. He promptly decided to find it iu an office of his own. Mr. Leaycraft accordingly began operations in the business which has engaged his chief attention ever since. He opened on his own account a real-estate office on Eighth Avenue, near Forty-second Street. He was a stranger in that part of the city, with no friends and no patrons. But he started in to win them, and soon succeeded. He did a large business in selling and leasing, and secured the permanent management of a number of pieces of property. Year by year his patronage increased, until now he is said to have the largest in all that quarter of the city, as well as a splendid business in other districts. He represents the tnistees and executors of a number of estates, and is agent for some of the most extensive personal and 228 J. EDGAB LEAYCKAFT 229 corporate estates in New York, as well as for a whole army of clients. He has successfully negotiated many important sales of property in various parts of the city, and has often been called to serve as an appraiser. He has for several years been a direc- tor, and for three years treasurer, of the Real Estate Exchange and Auction Rooms, Limited, and was one of the founders and first directors of the Real Estate Board of Brokers. These lat- ter places are indicative of the good will that is felt toward Mr. Leaycraft, and of the confidence that is felt in him, by his asso- ciates and rivals in the real-estate business. Apart from his business, strictly speaking, though in a great measure because of his success and integrity in business, Mr. Leaycraft's interests are varied, numerous, and important. His regard for the real-estate business and his unceasing efforts to raise its standard naturally led him into the movement on the upper West Side of the city which culminated in the formation of the West End Association, of which he has been treasurer and a most influential and active member for a number of years. Similarly, he was among the first members of the Colonial Club, the chief social organization in that part of the city. He was chosen a member of its committee on site, and it is largely be- cause of his judgment and foresight that the club now possesses its fine club-house in an unsurpassed situation. Mr. Leaycraft maintains an active interest in the club, being a member of its board of governors, and also its treasnrer. Mr. Leaycraft has been for a number of years a trustee of the Franklin Savings Bank, and at the present time is a member of its finance committee and chairman of the committee in charge of the erection of its new building. He is a member of the Board of Trade and Transportation, the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, the Union League Club, the New York Historical Society, the American Museum of Natural His- tory, the Up-Town Association, the Merchants' Association, the Republican Club of the City of New York, of which he has for a number of years been treasurer, of the Colonial Club, as already stated, and of the West Side Repubhcan Club, of which he has been president and a member of the executive committee since its foundation. He is a strong and consistent Republican, and has been a member of the County Committee of that party for 23U J. EDGAR LEAYCRAFT some years, though he has never been an ofi&ce-seeker nor a candidate for any office. In 1889, however, he was appointed by Governor Roosevelt a member of the State Board of Tax Com- missioners, a place for which his expert knowledge of real-estate values pecuharly fitted him. This appointment was made with- out soUcitation by Mr. Leaycraft, or the exercise of any influence in his behalf, and was accepted by him at the Governor's request. Mr. Leaycraft has long been a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and a member and officer of the Madison Avenue Church of that denomination. He is also treasurer of the New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to the work of which he gives generously of his time, his labor, and his means. From this brief outhne of his busy and honorable career it will readily be concluded that Mr. Leaycraft has been, in the best sense of the term, the architect of his own fortunes, the builder of his own character and success. His unfaihng integ- rity, his soundness of judgment, his devotion to business, his mastery of its principles and details, his energy, his foresight and enterprise, are chief among the elements which have attained for him the high success which he now enjoys, and which none of his rivals in business, not even those whom he may have far outstripped, can have just cause to begrudge him. i n &y7/LyiMA^yl\j^ DAVID LEVENTRITT DAVID LEVENTRITT, justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, is a Southerner by bh*th, but a New- Yorker by education and long residence. He was bom at Winnsboro, South Carohna, on January 31, 1845. When he was nine years old premonitions of troublous times in that part of the country were not lacking. The spirit of antagonism between North and South was steadily growing, and threatening to burst into violent conflict. In those controversies Mr. Leven- tritt's family took little actual part. But in 1854 his parents decided to remove to the North. Whether purposely or not, they thus avoided the cataclysm of war and disaster that pres- ently came upon the Palmetto State, and spent the remainder of their days in the peace and security of the Northern metropohs, and the boy grew up here as a New York boy. He attended the pubUc schools of the city, and thence pro- ceeded to the College of the City of New York, then known as the Free Academy. Throughout his school life he was noted as a fine student, and when he finished his course in the Free Academy he was graduated, in 1864, as the salutatorian of his class. He then adopted the law as his profession, and entered the Law School of New York University, or the University of the City of New York, as it was then called. There he was a diligent and receptive student, and he was in due time gradu- ated. Admission to practice at the bar followed, and then the young man opened an office and began work. His excellent preparation and his natural gifts and aptitude assured him success. This was not won without hard work, but from that he did not shrink. He soon gained by practice a wide and valuable familiarity with all important branches of law. '2Zi 232 DAVID LEVENTEITT especially of commercial law. He was employed as counsel in many noteworthy cases, and achieved a high average of success, especially as a trial lawyer. In the last twenty years few law- yers in New York have appeared in court more frequently or to more successful purpose than he. He was special counsel for the city in the proceedings for condemnation of land for the Washington Park, in which the property-owners claimed more than fifteen hundred thousand dollars. After a hard legal and argumentative battle, the case was settled at less than half that figure. Mr. Leventritt has long taken an active interest in politics as a Democrat and a follower of Tammany Hall. He was never an office-holder, however, until 1899, except as, by appointment, chairman of the Commission for the Condemnation of Lands for the new Third Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River. In the faU of 1898, however, he was nominated by the Democratic party for a place on the Supreme Court bench of the State. The campaign was a somewhat embittered one, but Mr. Leventritt ran ahead of his ticket, and was triumphantly elected. At the beginning of 1899 he took his place upon the Supreme Court bench, and was immediately designated as one of the justices of the Appel- late Term, a distinction not heretofore accorded to a judge during his first year of service. V" ADOLPH LEWISOHN THE subject of this sketch was bom in Hamburg, Germany, on May 17, 1849. Adolph Lewisohn comes of an old and honorable family, whose connection with mercantile affairs in Hamburg is part of that city's history. His father, Mr. Samuel Lewisohn, conducted a large business, wdth headquarters in Hamburg, but with connections which were world-wide. The importance of the American branch of the elder Mr. Lewisohn's business brought Adolph Lewisohn to this country as a young man, and he at once commenced to build up the foundation of that brilliant career which has brought him into the front rank of the business men of the metropoHs. In early life Mr. Lew- isohn was a gi-eat student, and even in his boyhood a remarkable master of mathematical propositions, having been especially proficient in algebraic problems; and this faculty has largely been brought into play in later life, as applied to the serious matters always entering into extended business operations. Mr. Lewisohn's remarkable success is largely due to his wonderful judgment in selecting business associates, he having always been careful to suiTound himself with the very best material for whatever particular piu-pose there might be in point. The assistants with whom he thus surrounded himself, being con- trolled by the calm, judicial mind, the self-contained, forceful character of Mr. Lewisohn, have been no small aids in the devel- opment of the important business now represented by the pow- erful fii-m of Lewisohn Brothers, of which Adolph Lewisohn is general manager. The possession of wealth, and the ability to enjoy all that wealth can purchase, are two distinct and separate things, not always found in happy combination ; but in the case of Mr. Lewisohn 234 ADOLPH LEWISOHN this most happy result is achieved. As a lover of art in all its branches, as a connoisseur of paintings, as an educated master of the beauties of architecture, Mr. Lewisohn stands prominent ; and his knowledge in these directions, his refined tastes, and his appreciation of fine hterature have resulted in a private life which affords not only happiness to himself, but delight to his family and to aU those who are fortunate enough to be classed among his friends. Mr. Lewisohn married, in 1878, Miss Emma M. Cahn of Phila- delphia, and his domestic life seems to afford him his greatest pleasure. The result of this marriage has been a charming fam- ily of three daughters and two sons. Two of the daughters are married to young and rising merchants of this city. Mr. Lewisohn has just completed a fine residence at No. 9 West Fifty-seventh Street, the architectural beauties of which have been the subject of much comment. His summers are spent at his country place at Elberon, known as "Adelawn," which was formerly known as the Childs place, having been built by the late George W. Childs, and which has always been one of the show-places of that beautiful seaside resort. It has been very much improved by the present owner, and is to-day unquestionably one of the most beautiful and effective gentlemen's seats on the New Jersey coast. In addition to his identification with the firm of Lewisohn Brothers, Mr. Lewisohn is a director in many other prominent enterprises and institutions, though his disposition is such as to render him desirous of avoiding any notoriety ; and the same principle prevails in the large charity which he exercises, and of which few know save those who profit by his generosity. z-€^>i,.^^ ^ LEONARD LEWISOHN TnE subject of the present sketcli, who has long been promi- nent in this city and country as a merchant and financier, comes from a city and from a family long noted for com- mercial and financial achievements. His father, Samuel Lewi- sohn, was for many years one of the best-known merchants in that city of merchant princes, Hambui'g, Germany. In that city Leonard Lewisohn was born, on October 10, 1847. His early hfe was spent in Hamburg, where he enjoyed the un- sm'passed educational advantages afforded by that city. There are no more thorough schools for boys than those of Oermany, many of which pay particular attention to instruction and disci- phne in business and commercial matters, and also to physical trammg. Young Lewisohn was an admirable student in all branches, and when he left school was both physically and intel- lectually equipped for the campaigns of hfe more completely than most young men. On leaving school he entered his father's office, and for three years served there, putting into practice the business principles which he had studied in school, and confirming his knowledge of them and his facility in using them. Then, though he had not yet attained his majority, he decided to seek a wider field for his activities than that city afforded. He judged that in the United States he would find the opportunities he craved, and accordingly he came hither in 1865, settling in New York. It was not necessary, however, for him to enter upon the hard struggles and hmnble employment which are the lot of so many immigrants. On the contrary, he had the great Hamburg house of his father to back him, and he established himself here partly as its American representative. In January, 1866, when he was 236 LEONARD LEWISOHN less than nineteen years of age, he started the firm of Lewisohn Brothers, with offices at No. 251 Pearl Street, conducting it at first as a branch of the Hambiu-g house. The firm imported bristles, horsehair, ostrich-feathers, and other foreign merchandise, and, from the beginning, did a prosperous business. In 1868 the importation from Grermany of pig-lead, for use in the manufacture of white lead, was engaged in, and later, in 1872, the firm began to deal in copper. From that time Mr. Lewisohn commenced to interest himself in mining industries. In 1879 he purchased several mining properties in Butte, Montana, and a year later formed the Montana Copper Company, and in 1887, with A. S. Bigelow and the late Joseph M. Clark, he formed the Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company, with headquarters in Boston. His firm, Lewisohn Brothers, had been selling agents for the Tamarack and the Osceola Copper Mining companies since 1885, and acted in the same capacity for the Boston and Montana Consohdated Copper and Silver Mining Company and other large companies. In 1895 Mr. Lewisohn was active in forming the Old Dominion Copper Mining and Smelting Company of Arizona, and, in 1897, the Isle Royale Consohdated Mining Company of Lake Superior, with all of which he is still connected. During the year 1899 Mr. Lewisohn became connected with the organization of several other companies of which much is expected in the future. Among them are the American Smelt- ing and Refining Company, the Santa Fe Gold and Copper Mining Company, and the Tennessee Copper Company. For many years Mr. Lewisohn has been a firm believer in the importance of the American copper-mines, realizing that they must soon be relied upon to furnish the world's supply, the mines of Europe having been all but exhausted for years, and those of South America and Africa having to await the development of railroads and other facilities. The upward movement in the price of copper he regards as natural and not forced, inasmuch as it results from the enormous and increasing demand from all parts of the world for manufacturing and electrical purposes, in comparison with which the visible supply of the metal is small. Mr. Lewisohn was married, in 1870, to Miss Rosalie Jacobs, with whom he lives happily, surrounded by a large family. EDWARD VICTOR LOEW EDWARD VICTOR LOEW is a son of Frederick and Sa- lome S. Loew, who came to this country from Strassbui'g, Alsace, then a province of France, but now a part of the German Empire, in the early part of the present centuiy. He was bom in New York city on March 18, 1839, and was educated in the public schools until he was twelve years old. At that time, on account of the death of his father, he was compelled to leave school and go to work for his own support. His first engagement was in a real-estate office, and he appUed himself diligently to learning the details of that business. In time he rose to be chief clerk of the office in which he was em- ployed. He left that place to go into partnership with his brother, Charles E. Loew, now deceased, in the same business. In the meantime he studied law, especially that pertaining to real estate, and in 1868 was admitted to the bar. By making a specialty of real-estate conveyancing and other business of that sort he soon built up a lucrative practice. He also engaged in land speculations and building operations, with much success. Down to the present time he has been interested in the erection of nearly four hundred buildings for residential purposes in New York city. Mr. Loew has long been active in financial affairs. In 1867 he was an incorporator of the Eleventh Ward Bank, of which he is still a director. Two years later he was an incorporator of the Eleventh Ward Savings Bank, and was the first president of that institution. In 1870 he was one of the incorporators of the Manufacturers' and Builders' Fii'c Insurance Company, becom- ing its first president and serving for twenty-three years. In 1873 he was an incorporator of the New York Real Estate Guar- 238 EDWAED VICTOR LOEW anty Company. In 1899 he was an incorporator of the New Amsterdam Casualty Company, and has since been its president. He is a director of the Seaboard National Bank, the Knicker- bocker Trust Company, the Trust Company of New York, and the Standard Gfas Light Company ; and is vice-president of the American Savings Bank, the Iron Steamboat Company, and the Batopilas Mining Company. Mr. Loew has, ever since he attained his majority, taken an earnest interest in public affairs, though reluctant to take office. After dechning various nominations, however, he was induced, in 1884, to become the candidate of various reform organizations for Controller of the city, and was elected by a handsome ma- jority. He served for a term of three years, and distinguished himself by the intelligence and integrity with which he fulfilled the duties of that important office. In 1887 he was earnestly urged to accept a renomination, but felt compelled, by personal business interests, to decline. Mr. Loew belongs to a number of the best clubs of the me- tropolis, and is a welcome and influential figure in them. Among them are the Manhattan Club, the City Club, and the Riding Club. He was married in New York, in 1872, to Miss Julia Goadby, daughter of Thomas Goadby, a retired manufacturer of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Loew have a family of three sons and two daughters: Edward Victor Loew, Jr., William Goadby Loew, Frederick W. Loew, Edna Goadby Loew, and Marguerite Sa- lome Loew. Their home is a center of refined social hfe and graceful hospitality. Mr. Loew's fortune and high standing in the community have been won by dihgent labor, unswerving integrity, and those elements of perseverance, shrewdness, and just discrimination which make for deserved success. At the same time he has given employment to thousands of men, and thus opened to them the paths of advancement. He has been ready with help- ing hand for the deserving, and has given much of his wealth, discreetly and uuassmningly, for philanthropic purposes. I. RICHARD PURDY LOUNSBERY ONE of the oldest families in the old town of Bedford, West- chester County, New York, and the adjacent region, is that of Lounshery, who came from Yorkshh'e, England, in 1643, and settled at Rye, New York. His descendants, or some of them in each generation, remained near the old homestead. Among them was James Lounshery, who was born at Bedford in 1795, and had a successful career as a New York merchant. He married Ann PhiUips Rundle, daughter of Solomon Rundle of PeekskiU, New York, whose mother was a direct descendant of the Rev. Greorge H. Phillips, who came over with Governor Winthrop in 1630. Richard Purdy Lounshery, son of James and Ann Phillips Lounshery, was born at Bedford on August 9, 1845. His education was acqmred in his native village under the direction and instruction of the Hon. James W. Husted, the Rev. Robei't Bolton, and Professor Albert Williamson. His business career was begun as a clerk in the office of Mills, Knickerbaker & Co., bankers and brokers, of New York. In 1867 he opened an office of his own on Broad Street, and in 1868 became a member of the New York Stock Exchange. His firm has been successively known as Loimsbery & Franshawe, Lounshery & Haggin, and Louns- hery & Co. As the head of that house he has participated in many of the largest financial operations of the last third of the century. He has been engaged in the business of a banker and broker continuously, since his entrance into it, with the exception of five years, 1871-76, when he was engaged in practically learning the mining business in Utah. The knowledge of mining affairs thus gained has enabled him since to take a leading part in dealing in mining secuii- ties in the New York market. 239 240 EICHABD PUEDY LOUNSBEEY Mr. Lounsbeiy has taken part in the organization of various mining corporations, and is at present ofi&cially connected with several. He is thus connected with the Ontario Silver Min- ing Company of Utah, the Homestake Mining Company of South Dakota, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company of Mon- tana, the American Mining Company of Mexico, the Terrible Mining Company of Colorado, and the Last Dollar Mining Company of Colorado. He is also a director of the West- chester Trust Company. His club and social affiliations are numerous. He belongs to the Union League Club, New York Yacht Club, Players' Club, Lambs' Club, Grolier Club, Riding Club, New York Athletic Club, City Club, Museum of Natural History, American Geo- graphical Society, New England Society, St. Nicholas Society, Lawyers' Club, and other organizations in New York city, the Coney Island Jockey Club, the Knollwood Country Club, the St. James Club of Montreal, and the Forest and Stream and St. Jerome clubs of Canada. He is a vestryman of St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal Church at Bedford. He is devoted to hunt- ing, fishing, yachting, and similar out-of-door sports. Mr. Lounsbery was married, at San Francisco, California, on August 21, 1878, to Miss Edith Hunter Haggin, daughter of James B. Haggin, the well-known mine-owner and patron of the turf. They have three children : James Ben Ali Haggin Loimsbery, Edith Lounsbery, and Richard Lounsbery. The family home in New York is at No. 12 East Thirty-Fifth Street. In the country — the latter being the real home — it is Jocuistita Hall, a splendid place at Bedford, New York. ':JcUaJc EDWARD E. McCALL A THOROUGH New-Yorker, though horn not in the metrop- olis, but the pohtieal capital of the State, is the subject of the present sketch, albeit a member of that Scotch-Irish ele- ment in our cosmopolitan poj^ulation which has so often proved its grit and manly worth. A typical New-Yorker, too, he may be called in his profes- sional and business life. For he is a member of that learned profession which finds in the metropohs its most important field of action, its most numerous adherents, and its most distin- guished members. In the practice of the law, moreover, he is especially associated with those branches which are connected with the great business interests of the city. A lawyer may attain success anywhere. But the lawyer making a specialty of financial corporation practice must seek his field in the city where such corporations have their seat. The name of Mr. McCaU's cousin, John A. McCall, is inseparably identified with insurance interests in the State and city of New York. It has fallen to Mr. McCall's lot to be similarly identified with the legal interests of the vast business of insurance. Edward E. McCall was born on January 6, 1863, at Albany, New York, the son of John and Katherine McCall, the former of whom is now deceased. His childhood was spent in his native city, and his early education was obtained in its schools. He was prepared for college in the Albany High School, and then came to New York city to pursue a higher course of study. This he did in New York University, or, as it was then known, the University of the City of New York. Before coming to New York he had decided to follow the legal profession, and upon leaving the university he took direct 241 242 EDWARD E. McCALL steps to that end. He began liis practice alone, but soon formed a partnership with WilKam C. Arnold. This association con- tinued for some time and then was dissolved, since which disso- lution Mr. McCall has taken no other partner, but has continued in highly successful practice alone. Mr. McCall's practice is chiefly in civil law, and deals largely with banking, insurance, and financial matters in general. He is now counsel for the three largest life-insurance companies in the world, namely, the Mutual Life, the Equitable Life, and the New York Life Insm-ance companies, of New York, and also for the International Banking and Trust Company of New York, and for the Munich Reinsm-ance Company. The duties con- nected with these vast corporations are enough to occupy a large share of bis time. He is able, however, to add to them much other professional and business activity. He is a director, as well as counsel, of the International Bank- ing and Trust Company, and president and director of the International Automobile and Vehicle Tire Company, Mr. McCaU is affiliated with the Democratic party, but has never held nor sought pubhc office, and has taken no active part in politics aside from discharging his duties as a citizen. He is a member of the Manhattan Athletic, Democratic, Har- lem, Cathohc, and Lawyers' clubs, of New York. He was married at Albany, New York, to Miss Ella F. Gaynor, daughter of Thomas S. Graynor of that city. Two children have blessed their union, who bear the names of EUa Gaynor McCall and Constance McCaU. JOHN AUGUSTINE McCALL THERE are few contemporary careers in the State of New- York more perfectly illustrative of what has been called the " genius of accomplishment " than that of the man who, as president of the New York Life Insurance Company, is one of the foremost figiu-es, not only in insurance, but in finance, in this financial center of the western hemisphere. He began his work in a humble station, pursued it faithfully and diligently for many years, and at last, by sheer force of merit, won his place at the head of his chosen calling. John Augustine McCall is of Scotch-Irish ancestry on both sides of the house. His father, who also bore the name of John A. McCall, was a merchant at Albany, New York. His mother's maiden name was Katherine MacCormack. He was born to them at Albany on March 2, 1849, and spent his boyhood under their care and training. He was sent to the public schools of Albany, and thence to the Albany Commercial College, at which latter institution he received a good business training. He was a good average student, making no especial record for him- self, but doubtless mastering his studies well, and at the same time enjoying the sports and recreations common to boys of his age. At the age of eighteen he faced the first crisis of his career. He had then to begin taking care of himself, and was called upon to choose his vocation in life. At once his native bent for finance asserted itself. He applied for a place in the banking depart- ment of the State government, and although he had no especial backing or " pull," he presently secured an engagement in the Assorting House for State Currency, at sixty dollars a month. There he worked for some time, but a little later transferred his 244 JOHN AUGUSTINE McCALL activities to another place, in the great business to which his whole life has since been devoted. This new place was that of a bookkeeper in the office of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, at Albany. The business of life-insurance was not then nearly as prosperous and important as it is now, but he reahzed its possibilities with pro- phetic eye, and decided to stick to it. Prom the office of the Connecticut company he went, at the age of twenty years, into the State Insurance Department at Albany, of which George W. Miller was then the head. He began with a subordinate clerk- ship, but steadily worked his way upward, through rank after rank. Thus he passed through the actuarial and statistical bureaus, and in three years was an examiner of companies. Mr. McCall remained an examiner for four years, and then was promoted on his merits to the place of deputy superinten- dent of the Department of Insurance, and thus became the prominent figure that he remained for so long a time. He was a Democrat in politics, and places in the Insurance Department were commonly reckoned political places. Yet so assured was his official worth to the people of the State, and so great and general was the confidence in his administration of the duties of his office, that he was retained in his place through two Repub- lican State administrations. In fact, it would be difficult to overestimate the value of Mr. McCall's work to the insurance interests, and to the people of this State. When he began his official work at Albany there was a vast amount of dishonesty in both life- and fire-insurance, through which gi-eat losses were occasioned to insurers, and confidence in the whole system sorely shaken. Mr. McCall ex- posed it mercilessly, and did incalculable good for the benefit of policy-holders all over the world. No less than twelve untrust- worthy fire-insurance companies were compelled to retire from business, and eighteen unsound life-insurance companies of this State and fifteen of other States were similarly bi'ought to book. Nor did his reformatory work stop there. Several companies persisted in dishonest ways, until he was compelled to resort to the severest measures. The presidents of two of them were convicted by him of perjury, and were sent to the peniten- tiary. Since that time the insiu'ance business of this State has JOHN AUGUSTINE McCALL 245 been on a far sounder basis than ever before, and failures of companies and losses by policy-holders have been few indeed. Such work conld not go without recognition. At the begin- ning of 1883 the insurance companies of the State wished to urge his appointment to the head of the department. He refused to let them do so. But he could not prevent a host of represen- tative business men of all parties from sending to the Governor a monster petition for his appointment as superintendent. "His indefatigable industry, enlightened endeavor, and uncompromis- ing fidehty to duty have given abundant proof of his fitness," they declared. And so Governor Cleveland appointed him to the office. Governor Hill, who succeeded Governor Cleveland, offered him a reappointment, but he declined it, and became con- troller of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, a place he was ideally fitted to fill. Then a crisis came in the affairs of the New York Life Insurance Company, and he was called upon to become its president and to rehabilitate the great institution from the evil ways into which it had been led. He accepted the call, and has fulfilled the trust with magnificent success. Mr. MeCall is also connected with the New York Surety and Trust Company, the National City Bank, the Central National Bank, the National Surety Company, the Munich Reinsurance Company, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and the Ingersoll Sergeant Drill Company. He is a member of the Metropohtan, Colonial, Lawyers', Catholic, Merchants', Manhat- tan, New York Athletic, Norwood Field, the Arts, and City clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Albany Society, and the National Arts Club. He was married at Albany, in 1870, to Miss Many I. Horan of that city, and has seven children : Mrs. Albert McClave, Mrs. D. P. kmgsley, John C. McCall, Ballard McCall, Leo H. McCall, Sydney C. McCaD, and Clifford H. McCall. ©^ JOHN JAMES McCOOK " ALL young, all gallant, and all successful." That is the de- XA. scription given by James G. Blaine, in his Memoirs, of a family that became famous during our Civil War and has ever since been known as " the fighting McCooks." There were two divisions of them — cousins, the children of Daniel and John McCook, brothers. They came of that sturdy and canny Scotch- Irish stock which has given to this country so many of its ablest men. Of the sons of Daniel McCook there were nine. The first was named John James, but he was lost at sea, a midshipman in the navy, and his name was transferred to the youngest son, who was born three years later. The subject of this sketch was bom at Carrollton, Ohio, on May 25, 1845. He was a student at Kenyon College when the war broke out, and forthwith joined the Sixth Ohio Cavahy. He was then only sixteen, the youngest of the " fighting Mc- Cooks," and by no means the least gallant or least successful. He began, of course, as a private soldier. In a few months he was promoted to be an officer. At seventeen years old he was a lieutenant, at eighteen a captain, at nineteen a brevet major, and at twenty, at the close of the war, a brevet colonel. He served in many campaigns in both the East and West. He fought at PerryviUe, at Murfreesboro, at Chickamauga, in the Wilderness, and around Petersburg. He received his fij'st brevet for gallan- try on the field at Shady Grove, where he was seriously womided. It may be added that his father was killed while leading a party to intercept Morgan the raider, and that seven of his brothers were in the army, five of them rising to the rank of general. At the close of the war the young soldier was not yet of age. He went back to Kenyon College and took up his studies where 24G JOHN JAMES McCOOK 247 he had laid them down, and in due course of time was gradu- ated with honorable standing. Then he went to Harvard and piu'sued a course in its law school. Having got his second diploma and been admitted to practice at the bar of Ohio, he came to this city, where the pursuit of his profession is at once most arduous and most promising of success and distinction. For many years he has been a member of the well-known firm of Alexander & Green, and as such has been identified with many important cases in both the local and the United States courts. He was for a number of years general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe Eailroad, and when that road fell into difiiculties he was made its receiver, and in that capa- city reorganized it. He is also legal adviser and a director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, of the Mercantile Trust Company, of the American Surety Company, and, in one capacity or another, connected with various other important business corporations. In politics Colonel McCook is a stanch Republican. It was a matter of regret to his many friends when he dechned President McKinley's invitation to enter his cabinet as Secretary of the Interior, a position for which his legal training and business experience exceptionally qualified him. Colonel McCook has by no means let his profession absorb all his attention and activities. He has played a conspicuous part in the social life of the metropohs, and has been most useful in promoting rehgious and educational interests. He has for some years been a trustee of Princeton University. He has also long been a leading member of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, and he was the prosecutor in the famous ecclesiastical trial of Professor Charles A. Briggs of the Union Theological Seminary. He is a member of the University, Union League, Union, City, Metropohtan, Harvard, Princeton, and Tuxedo clubs, the Ohio Society, the Bar Association, and the mihtary order of the Loyal Legion. He has received the degrees of Master of Arts from Kenyon College and from Princeton University, Bachelor of Laws from Harvard University, and Doctor of Laws from the University of Kansas and Lafayette College. He is married to a daughter of Henry M. Alexander, one of the founders of the law firm of which he is a member. THOMAS ALEXANDER McINTYRE THERE need be no hesitation in guessing the ancestry of those who bear the name of Mclntyre. Scotch it sounds, and Scotch it is, and Scotch in the sturdy virtues of the race are those who bear it. Ewan Mclntyre has long been known as one of the foremost druggists of this city, and for many years presi- dent of the College of Pharmacy. He was married to Miss Emily A. Bridgeman, daughter of Thomas Bridgeman, a well- known writer on horticulture and practical horticulturist. They have a large family of sons and daughters, of whom the second son is the subject of this sketch. Thomas Alexander Mclntyi-e was born in this city on October 19, 1855, and received the best education the local schools could afford. His busiuess career began in a clerkship in the grain and produce house of David Bingham. Afterward he entered the employment of David Dows, in the same hne of business. In those offices he learned the grain trade so thoroughly that in 1878 he ventured to engage in it on his own account as the head of the firm of Mclntyre & Bingham. The next year, on May 1, 1879, Henry L. Wardwell, who had been his fellow-clerk in the office of David Dows, and who was particularly well informed in the flour trade, joined forces with him in the firm of Mclntyre & Wardwell. They had between them about forty thousand dollars capital, and with that they began a commission business at the Produce Exchange, in which they have continued down to the present time, and in which they have been exceptionally successful. For years the firm has been credibly reputed to be the largest dealers in grain in the United States. It has long purchased aU the grain used by the Hecker-Jones-Jewell Milling Company, the largest concern of the kind in New York. Mr. 248 THOMAS ALEXANDEB McINTYBE 249 Mclntyre, indeed, was one of the organizers and is treasurer of that company, which has a capital of five milUon dollars. Mr. Mclntyre was also the organizer and is the vice-president and chairman of the executive committee of the great Brooklyn Wharf and Warehouse Company, which controls the bulk of the water-front facilities of that part of the metropolis. He is a director of the Corn Exchange Bank, vice-president of the Hud- son River Bank, vice-president and trustee of the Produce Ex- change Trust Company, a leading director of the International Elevating Company, director of the Cuban and Pan-American Express Company, director of the State Trust Company, and a member of the committee of management of the Royal Insiu'- ance Company. He owns a large tract of pine forest in North Carolina, where he has established, besides his mills and other works, a delightful winter home. Mr. Mclntyre has held no political office, but has long taken a keen interest in public affairs, and has labored earnestly for the cause of good government in State and nation. Generally he has been identified with the Democratic party, but in the na- tional campaign of 1896 he supported the Republican ticket, on the sound-money issue. He is one of the foremost members of the Produce Exchange and of the Chamber of Commerce. He belongs to the Metropolitan, Manhattan, Colonial, Reform, Lawyers', Down-Town, New York Athletic, New York Yacht, Subm-ban, Riding and Driving, and other clubs. His city home is on West Seventy-fifth Street, and is one of the finest man- sions in that fine part of the city. Mr. Mclntyre was mairied, in 1879, to Miss Anna Knox, daugh- ter of Henry Knox of the New York bar. They have several children. Mr. Mclntyre is a member of the Fifth Avenue Pres- byterian Church and a generous supporter of its activities. His sterling integrity and genial qualities have won for him the con- fidence and esteem of all who know him, as his enterprising and energetic character and sound judgment have secured for him far more than ordinary business success. JOHN SAVAGE McKEON JOHN SAVAGE McKEON was born on February 3, 1845, in Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of James and Elizabeth McKeon, and his father was connected with the firm of C. W. & J. T. Moore & Co., well-known wholesale dry-goods merchants of New York city before the war. Both his parents were natives of Ballymena, Ulster County, in the north of Ire- land. They were very religious people, being adherents of that strictest of Presbyterian sects^ the Church of the Covenanters. Mr. McKeon was educated in PubUc School No. 1, Brooklyn, on the comer of Adams and Concord streets, and was graduated therefrom in 1859, under Lyman E. White, principal. At the early age of fourteen he entered the store of Joseph Bryan, clothier, at No. 214 Fulton Street. His position was a hard one, and for two years he was obUged to do heroic duty, working fifteen hours daily. The experience was a difficult one, but he found it to be of hfetime value. In 1861 he engaged with Hanf ord & Browning, who at this time had large contracts for making clothing for the United States army. He remained with this firm and others for nine years. In 1872 he formed a partnership with Edward Smith and Allen Gray of Brooklyn, manufacturers of clothing, under the firm name of Smith, Gray, McKeon & Co. After six years in this connection he opened his present place of business at Broad- way and Bedford Avenue, in 1878, conducting a wholesale busi- ness in boys' clothing in connection with his extensive retail business. In January, 1898, he transferred his wholesale plant to Manhattan Borough, Nos. 696-702 Broadway, at the corner of Fourth Street. Mr. McKeon has been prominent in political affairs, but has 250 JOHN SAVAGE McKEON 251 steadily refused all nominations for public office. For two years he held the position of president of the Nineteenth Ward Repub- lican Committee, but of late years his many business responsi- bihties have precluded the assuming of other duties. He is a director of the Amphion Academy Company, and of the American Union Life Insiirance Company. He is a trustee of the Kings County Savings Institution, trustee and chairman of the finance committee of the Kings County Building and Loan Association, and trustee of the Eastern District Hospital. In the club world Mr. McKeon is well known. For two years he was president of the Union League of Brooklyn, his term expiring May 10, 1899, and he is now a member of the Board of GoveiTiors. He is a member of the Hanover Club and is a direc- tor of the Apollo Club. He is president of the Long Island Life- Saving Association, and has been for twenty years trustee and treasui'er of the Ross Street Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn. He was married, on May 10, 1866, to Miss Eliza Jane Eason of Brooklyn. They have been blessed with an interesting family of eight children — five sons and three daughters. Their names are John Wilson, Flora Eason, Mary Beatty, Robert Lincoln, James Elder, Isabella Cooper, Charles Augustus Wilson, and Harold Nisbet. Two of the sons and one daughter are happily married. Mr. McKeon is an ardent and devoted Mason of the thirty- second degree, and was made a Master Mason in Crystal Wave Lodge in 1867. He belongs to Kismet Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum, Franklin Council. (Si^ EMERSON McMILLIN EMERSON McMILLIN was bom neai* tlie viUage of Ewing- ton, in Gallia Couuty, Ohio. His fattier was a manager of the iron furnaces in that neighborhood, and the boy was early initiated into the processes of that trade. Between the ages of twelve and sixteen he served an ai^prenticeship in the various occupations connected with the operation of iron-works. Mean- time he attended the local pubhc schools with some irregularity, but easily kept himseK at the head of his class in scholarship. Thus in boj^hood he gained a good practical education, learned an important trade, and developed a splendid physical frame and a capacity for almost endless hard work. The opening of the Civil War f oimd him only seventeen years of age, and thus under the enlistment hmit. Nevertheless he got himself accepted as a soldier, and sei-ved through the war. He was several times severely wounded, and was promoted for his bravery. Five of his brothers and his father were also in the army, and three of the brothers were killed. At the end of the war he engaged in mercantile pursuits for two years, and then became a gas-works manager. In 1875 he began the manufacture of iron and steel, and between that date and 1883 was manager and president of various iron and steel works in the Ohio valley. His interest in the iron trade was maintained down to a few years ago. Between 1874: and 1890 he became the owner of a number of small gas-plants in the West. In the fall of 1888 he bought the Columbus (Ohio) Gras Company, and the next year consolidated the four gas companies of St. Louis, Missouri. At the time one of these four companies was selling gas at a dollar a thousand feet, and losing money ; another was seUing it at a dollar and a half , a third at a dollar and sixty 252 EMEBSON McMILLIN 253 cents, and the fourth at two dollars and a half. After the con- solidation all gas was sold at about ninety-three cents, and still large profits were made. Mr. McMillin's career as a banker began in 1891. On August 1 of that year the firm of Emerson McMillin & Co., bankers, began business at No. 40 Wall Street, New York. Since that date it has built up a large and profitable business in a field which is comparatively new in banking circles, namely, the pur- chase and consolidation of gas companies and the handling of their securities. Soon after Mr. McMillin began this business in New York the East River Gras Company of New York was organized, and he was elected its president. It was under his immediate super- vision that the tunnel under the East River between Long Island City and New York was constructed, for the purpose of convey- ing gas from the works on Long Island to the consumers in New York. Mr. McMillin, in 1892, negotiated the purchase and consolida- tion of the street-railways of Columbus, Ohio. His firm was also an important factor in the organization of the New England G-as and Coke Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Among other properties which the firm has acquired and reorganized in the last few years may be mentioned the St. Paul Gas and Elec- tric Company of St. Paul, Mmnesota, the Denver Gras and Elec- tric Company of Denver, Colorado, the Columbus Natural and Illuminating Gas Companies of Columbus, Ohio, and the corre- sponcUng concerns in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Grand Rapids, Jackson, and Detroit, Michigan, St. Joseph, Missouri, Long Branch, Asbury Park, and Redbank, New Jersey, and San Antonio, Texas. Among the recent enterprises of Mr. McMillin's firm are the building of hydraulic works for the generation of electricity, near Quebec, Canada, and also near Montgomery, Alabama, and the construction of a similar plant in the vicinity of St. Paul, Minnesota, to supply electricity for use in that city. CLARENCE HUNGERFORD MACKAY THE Mackay family, which for many years has been among the foremost in American business and social circles, is of comparatively recent settlement in the United States. It was founded here by John Wilham Mackay, the mining and submariae- cable magnate, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, came to this country at an early age, and went to Cahfornia with the "forty- niners " to seek and to find a fortune. He married Miss Marie Louise Hungerford, whose father, Colonel Hungerford, was a distinguished officer in the Mexican and Civil wars, and who was a dkect descendant of Sir Thomas Hungerford of Farleigh Castle, England. Miss Hungerford was bom in New York city. To Mr. and IVIrs. Mackay was bom, in San Francisco, Califor- nia, on April 17, 1874, the subject of this sketch, Clarence Hun- gerford Mackay. His early life was largely spent in Europe, where his parents made their home for much of the time. His education, a most thorough one, was acquired first at Vangirard College, Paris, France, and afterward at Beaumont College, Windsor, England. At an early age he began to manifest some- thing of that taste and aptitude for business and finance which made his father so marked a man of affairs, and his inchnations in that direction were not discouraged. By the time he had reached the age of twenty years he had received an excellent collegiate training, and was ready for an active business life. This he began under the immediate direction of his father, than whom he could have wished no better preceptor. Mr. Mackay entered his father's office in 1894. Two years later he had so far demonstrated his business abihty that his election as president of the American Forcite Powder Manufac- turing Company was regarded as a fitting tribute to him and as It** CLARENCE HUNGERFORD MACKAY 255 giving promise of much good to that corporation. He filled that place with success for three years. In the meantime he became more and more closely connected with the great business interests of his father, including real-estate, mining, telegraphic, etc. He was elected a director of the Postal Telegraph Company and of the Commercial Cable Company, with which his father is identified, on February 25, 1896, and on January 21, 1897, he was elected a vice-president of both companies. To these great corporations and their ramifications his attention has since chiefly been given. He retired from the presidency of the Forcite Powder Company in February, 1899. A little later in the same year he organized the Commercial Cable Company of Cuba, and endeavored to lay a cable from the United States to Cuba, in competition with the one already existing. He asked for this no subsidy, nor any aid from the government, but merely permission to land the cable on the shore of Cuba. General Alger, the then Secretary of War, refused such permission, though many eminent authorities expressed the opinion that it ought to be granted without delay. Mr. Mackay occupies a prominent position in society in New York, in California, and in Em-ope. He belongs to many social organizations, among them being the Union Club, the Knicker- bocker Club, the Racquet and Tennis Club, the New York Yacht Club, the Meadowbrook Club, the Westchester Country Club, the Lawyers' Club, and the Metropohtan Club, of New York, and the Pacific Union Club and the Bohemian Club of San Francisco. He was married on May 17, 1898, his bride being Miss Kath- erine Alexandra Duer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Duer of New York city, A daughter was born to them, at their home in New York city, on February 5, 1900. JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY is of Scottish ancestry and Irish birth. He comes from that canny Covenanter stock which in Cromwell's time colonized the northern part of Ireland and made the province of Ulster the thiifty and prosperous community it has ever since been. He was born in Dubhn, on November 28, 1831. Nine years later his parents brought him to Amei-ica with them, and settled in New York city. Two years later the father died, and the task of caring for the children fell upon the widowed mother, who performed it nobly. After acquiring a good common-school education, John was apprenticed to a ship-builder, and had to do with fitting out ships that were to go "around the Horn." Then the gold fever of 1849 broke out, and claimed him for its own. He went to Cali- fornia and worked with pick and shovel. He learned the whole mining business by practical experience, and lived a sober life, thus keeping body and mind sound, but remained a poor man. In 1860 he chmbed over the Sierras into Nevada. At Grold Hill he made an investment which paid httle. Then he looked over the Comstock Lode, and made up his mind that it contained vast fortunes. He began work at the northern end of it, sinking a shaft at Union Ground. But lack of capital hampered him, and he was constrained to foiin a partnership with two other young men who had been making money in business and specu- lation in San Francisco. These were James C. Flood and Wil- liam S. O'Brien. A fourth partner, James C. Walker, a practical miner, was also taken into the firm when it was formed in 1861. That was the beginning of the famous " Bonanza Firm." Mr. Walker dropped out in 1867, by which time their profits were over a million dollars, and his place was taken by James 0. 256 ]^7^^ ^/tl JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY 257 Fair. Mr. Mackay was the leading spirit. He persuaded the others to buy adjacent claims. When the lodes seemed to he worked out, it was he who insisted on going down to deeper levels. And so was developed one of the greatest mining proper- ties the world has ever seen. In six years the output was over three hundred million dollars, and the financial history of the world was changed. IVIr. Mackay owned two fifths of these mines. Mr. Mackay was the founder of the Bank of Nevada, and carried it through a loss of eleven million dollars, which it suf- fered through a " wheat corner" speculation of one of its officers in 1887. In 1884 he formed a partnership with James Gordon Bennett, of the New York " Herald," for the consti-uction of some new Atlantic cables, and thus brought into being the great Commercial Cable Company, and the Postal Telegraph Com- pany, of which he has since been the head. He was urged in 1885 to accept election to a seat in the United States Senate, from Nevada, but declined it. He has given his wealth with a generous hand to numerous benevolent institutions, and ranks among the most public-spirited of citizens. Among his bene- factions is a large asylum for orphans at Virginia City, Nevada. He is a liberal supporter of the Roman CathoUc Church, of which he is a member. Mr. Mackay was married, in 1867, to Miss Hungerford, a daughter of Colonel Daniel C. Hungerford, who was a veteran of the Mexican and Civil wars. Mrs. Mackay is a woman of exceptional social culture and brilliancy, and has been for many years a conspicuous figure in the best society in New York, London, and Paris. She is also a generous patron of literature, fine arts, and benevolent works. Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mackay, named John W. Mackay, Jr., and Clar- ence Hungerford Mackay. €>S> WILLIAM MAHL THE revolutionary period of 1848 in Europe caused the migra- tion of many of the subjects of those countries to the United States. Among them were Dr. WiUiam Mahl and his wife, for- merly Louise Brodtman, and then- two children. Dr. Mahl had been a practising physician at Karlsruhe, Baden, and was de- scended from a family conspicuous in its devotion to the Protes- tant faith in the days of rehgious intolerance. His wife was a daughter of Carl Joseph Brodtman of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, one of the pioneers in lithography. Dr. Mahl, being pohtically proscribed, came to the United States and entered upon a promis- ing career in his profession, but fell a victim to yellow fever in New Orleans in 1856. One of his two children was William Mahl, who was bora at Carlsruhe on December 19, 1843. He was just beginning to ac- quire an education when his father died, and thereafter his in- struction and training were supervised by his mother, a woman of marked fitness for the task. The family was then settled in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1859 his mother died, and he was compelled to leave school and enter business life. His bent for mechanics secured him a place in the office and shop of a manu- facturer of mathematical instruments at Louisville. But in 1860 he left that calhng and entered the service of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, under Albert Fink, who was then the superintendent of the road and machinery department. Four years later he became chief clerk of the mechanical and road department of the Louisville and Frankfort and Lexington and Frankfort Railroad. His investigations and reports into the cost of operating railroads attracted the attention of others interested in these problems. The result of his researches was 258 ^^'^^ WILLIAM MAHL 259 heartily acknowledged in the annual report of the Louisville and Frankfort and Lexington and Frankfort Railroad for the year ending June 30, 1865. Two years later he was chosen to be auditor of that road, and he held that place, together with that of purchasing agent, until 1872. In the latter year he became associated with Colonel Thomas A. Scott, then president of the Texas and Pacific Rail- road. Mr. Mahl became auditor of that road, and after the panic of 1873 was made also its financial agent in Texas. At the close of 1871 he went back to the Lomsville and Frankfort and Lex- ington and Frankfort. The latter road had fallen a victim to the panic, and was in a bad plight. He became auditor to its re- ceiver, and for the reorganized company, and thus served imtil 1879. Then he was elected general superintendent of the road, and remained in that place until the road was sold, at the end of 1881. Early in 1882 he entered the New York office of C. P. Hunt- ington, and was, in 1896, appointed assistant to the president and controller of the Newport News and Mississippi Valley system of roads, consisting of six conjoined roads extending from New- port News, Virginia, to New Orleans. On Mr. Huntington's sale of this system, Mr. Mahl was appointed assistant to the president, and later controller of the Southern Pacific Company, which place he still holds. He is also assistant to the president of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and controller of the Mexican Inter- national Railroad Company, the Guatemala Central Railroad Company, the Newport News Ship-building and Dry Dock Com- pany, and several other enterprises. His field of observation embraces 9196 miles of raih-oad. Mr. Mahl is a member of the Lawyers' Club of New York, the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, Louisville Commandery No. LI, Knights Templar, and other organizations. He was married at Louisville, in 1865, to Miss Mary A. Skidmore. They have fom- children, named Frederick William, John Thomas, Alice Mary, and Edith Virginia. SYLVESTER MALONE THE beautiful town of Trim, on tlie still more beautiful Boyne River, in County Meath, Ireland, was the birth- place of one of the best-known and most -beloved priests of the Roman Cathohc Chui'ch in America. There dwelt Laurence Malone and his wife Marcella ; he a civil engineer, and a man of high attainments, she a woman of more than ordinary force of character. To them was born, on May 8, 1821, a son, to whom they gave the name of Sylvester, after Mrs. Malone's father, Sylvester Martin of Kilmessan. Sylvester was the sec- ond of three sons. He was educated at an academy of high scholarship, which was conducted by Protestants, but in which the utmost rehgious tolerance was inculcated by example as well as by precept. He remained true to the Roman Cath- ohc faith of his parents. In 1838, the Rev. Andrew Byrne of New York, afterward Bishop of Little Rock, Ai'kansas, visited Ireland in search of promising candidates for the priesthood. He met Sylvester Malone, became interested in him, and brought him to the United States. He reached Philadelphia, where the landing was made, on May 11, 1839. The young man immediately proceeded to New York, and entered the Seminary of St. Joseph, at Lafarge- ville, Jefferson County, New York. There he was educated for the priesthood. The next year the seminaiy was removed to Fordham, now a part of New York city. On March 10, 1844, Bishop Hughes consecrated three bishops in St. Patrick's Cathe- di-al, and on that august occasion young Malone was miter- bearer. On August 15, 1844, he was ordained a priest of the diocese of New York. He first said mass at Wappingers Falls, New York. Then he was appointed to take pastoral charge of 260 C/^ i^ 7^^\ir" ■,^y^^'WA^i. SYLVESTEK MALONE 261 a parish in Williamsburg, now a part of Brooklyn, and in that place all the rest of his life was spent. On Saturday, September 21, 1844, the young priest arrived at the scene of his hfe-work. The parish was then known as St. Mary's, but the name was soon afterward changed to Sts. Peter and Paul. In 1848 the present edifice was completed. It would be impossible in less space than a volume to tell adequately the story of Father Malone's long career. He made the church the center of every possible good work. He planted missions on every side. He labored for temperance, and indus- try, and law and order. When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, he placed an American flag on the spire of the chiu-ch building and kept it flying there imtil the war was ended, as a token of his stanch patriotism. At the first Decoration Day ceremonies in Brooklyn he rode in the procession in the same carriage with three Protestant ministers, and spoke from the same platform with them — a sight not before seen in Brooklyn. On many other occasions Father Malone worked side by side with clergy- men of other faiths, and always commanded the utmost respect, reverence, and love of all, without regard to creed. He was elected by the Legislature a regent of the University of the State of New York, on March 29, 1894. That was the golden jubilee of his priesthood. Beginning on Sunday, Octo- ber 14, 1894, the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination aud his settlement over his parish were celebrated with religious ser- vices and with social festivities such as few men have ever been the subjects of. There was a practically universal outpom'ing of congratulation and praise from the press and pulpits and general public, regardless of political party or denominational creed. To the end of his life Sylvester Malone stood among the foremost Christian ministers of America, in length and value of services, in native worth, and in the esteem and con- fidence and love of his feUow-men. He died on December 29, 1899. EBENEZER STITEGES MASON THE parents of Ebenezer Stui-ges Mason were Charles and Sarah Mason, both descendants of EngUsh families of high standing, which were transplanted to this country in the years preceding the Revolutionary War. The home of Charles and Sarah Mason was in New York city, and here their son, the subject of this sketch, was born, on April 14, 1843. The boy was marked by his parents for a business career, and was educated and trained with that end in view. He was sent to the pubhc schools of New York and Brooklyn, where his natural aptitude and earnest application enabled him to master the practical branches of study with admirable thoroughness. He was sent to no higher institution of learning, but went from the school-house directly into a business office. His first engagement was as a clerk in a New York shipping house. In that place he served for several years, giving his em- ployers entire satisfaction, and acquiring for himself a most thorough and valuable practical acquaintance with sound busi- ness methods and principles. From mercantile life he passed into financial occupations, as an assistant bookkeeper in the Bank of New York. This place he took on October 30, 1865, being at the time only a little more than twenty-two years old. He quickly displayed a decided fit- ness for the duties of a bank, and made rapid progress in the favor of his employers. Promotion followed promotion, in rapid succession, and he made his way steadily toward the highest rank in his calling, and to the highest place in the esteem and confidence of his business associates. He has a clear and far- seeing mind, especially in commercial and financial matters, and his knowledge of real-estate values is highly esteemed. :;62 EBENEZER STURGES MASON 263 Mr. Mason continues to this day his connection with the Bank of New York, but has extended his business interests to include various other important corporations. Among these latter may be enumerated the Real Estate Trust Company of New York, the Transatlantic Fire Insm-ance Company of Hamburg, and the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad Company. To all of them he gives a considerable amount of personal attention, and he is an active factor in promoting then* prosperity. In poUtical matters, Mr. Mason has always been an earnest Republican. His absorption in business has, however, left him no time for ofl&ce-holding, or indeed for any political activities beyond the exercise of the privileges and discharge of the duties of an intelhgent and interested private citizen. He has found little time, either, and felt little inclination, for much participation in club life. He is a member of the Union League Club of New York, and is a welcome frequenter of its house. But his domestic tastes lead him to devote the major part of his leisure time to his own home. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York. Mr. Mason was married, on April 14, 1875, to Miss Abbie Low Ranlett of New York city. The happiness of their home life has been augmented by tlie advent of a family of three bright and interesting children. These are a son and two daughters, named respectively Kenneth Mason, Evelyn Ranlett Mason, and Adele Sturges Mason. WARNER MILLER 4 MONGr the early settlers in Westchester County, New York, Xa_ about the year 1680, was one John Miller, a sturdy Dutch- man. He had four sons, named James, Abram, Ehjah, and An- thony. Elijah had a daughter named Martha, and Anthony a son named William, and these two cousins married each other, and had a son, to whom they gave the name of Hiram. The last- named was the father of Warner Miller, the subject of this sketch. Warner Miller was born in Oswego County, New York, on August 12, 1838. He studied in the local schools and at Union College, where he was graduated in 1860. That fall he became professor of Greek and Latin in the Collegiate Institute at Fort Edward, New York. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Fifth New York Cavahy as a private. He served in the Shenandoah VaUey, and was promoted for gallant conduct until he became a lieutenant. At Winchester he was taken prisoner, and, whUe sick in the hospital, was paroled. Mr. Miller then went back to Fort Edward, and entered the emplojonent of some paper manufacturers, in time becoming superintendent of the mills. He next organized a company of his own, at Herkimer, New York, to manufacture paper out of wood-pulp. He invented the machines needed for that work, and made the first wood paper, and started an industry which has now risen to gigantic proportions. He did not try to keep a monopoly of the business, but made his processes public and sold his machines to aU who would buy. Wood-pulp paper hterally revolutionized the paper trade, and the newspaper and book-pub- lishing businesses as well, for the cost of the white paper was reduced from fifteen to three cents a pound. Mr. Miller amassed a fine fortune from the business, and estabhshed factories of his 264 V WAENEK MILLEB 265 own at Palmer's Falls and Lyon Falls, besides those at Herkimer. At Herkimer Mr. Miller has a fine farm of several hundred acres, which it is his pride to make and keep a model farm in all respects. In 1889 Mr. Miller became interested in the Nicaragua shij)- canal. He became president of the company and devoted to it years of hard work and a large share of his fortune. It was his company that practically began the work. Unfortunate govern- ment policies permitted the company to become embarrassed and the work to be suspended, but there is a prospect of resumption of it under happier auspices, and a triumphant conclusion being made of this second great work of Mr. Miller's hfe. Mr. Miller became interested in politics as a Republican at an early date. At a political meeting at Herkimer in 1867 he was called upon suddenly to take the place of a speaker who had failed to arrive, and acquitted himself so well that he at once became a leader. He was elected to the Assembly from Herki- mer County in 1873, and again in 1874. In 1878 he was elected to Congi'ess, and was reelected in 1880. His second teiTn was interrupted by his election, in the summer of 1881, to the United States Senate. As Senator he secured the passage of the letter- carriers' eight-hour law, an important pension law, the " head- money " law regulating immigration, and the " ahen contract labor" law. He also seciu-ed important improvements for the harbor of New York, and was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Agriculture and the Labor Bureau. In 1888 he was a leading member of the Republican National Convention which nominated General Harrison for the Presidency, and was himself the candidate for Grovernor of New York. His efforts secured the election of General Harrison, but he was himself de- feated. Since that time he has been a commanding figure in the councils of the Republican party. Mr. Miller was mai'ried to Miss Churchill, a daughter of Henry Churchill of Glovers\ille, Fulton County, New York, whose ma- ternal grandfather introduced into this country the manufacture of gloves. They have had four sons and one daughter. Mr. Miller has, since his childhood, been identified with the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, to which his family has belonged for sev- eral generations, and he has devoted to its interests much of his strength, time, and means. DARIUS OGDEN MILLS FEW narratives are more fascinating than those which tell of the rise of men, by dint of native virtue and energy, from comparatively humble stations in life to vast wealth and influence and power for good among their fellow-men. The United States is notably the land where such careers are most to be found, and among those to be observed here there is not one more worthy of attention than that of Darius Ogden MiUs. He comes of an old north of England family which at the middle of the last century came to this country and settled on Long Island, and then removed to Connecticut, near the New York hne. Some mem- bers of the family, indeed, established themselves in Westchester County, New York, and there, in the last generation, James Mills was supervisor and justice of peace for the town of North Salem. He was a man of high standing in the community, and was successfully engaged in various lines of business, but, late in hfe, lost most of his property through unfortunate investments. He died at Sing Sing in 1841, leaving his sons to make their own fortunes. Darius Ogden Mills, son of James Mills, was bom at North Salem on September 25, 1825, and inherited the rugged health, mental acuteness, and flawless integrity that had distinguished his father. He received his education at the North Salem Academy, and at the Mount Pleasant Academy at Sing Sing, ex- cellent institutions of that rank. He left the Sing Sing school at the age of seventeen to complete his training in the wider and higher school of the business world. For several years he per- formed the duties of a clerkship in New York, bringing to them the quahties of person and character that assure — or, still better, deserve — success. In 1847, on the invitation of his cousin, E. 266 ( DARIUS OGDEN MILLS 267 J, Townsend, he went to Buffalo, New York, to serve as cashier of the Merchants' Bank of Erie County, and also to form a busi- ness partnership with Mr. Towusend. The bank was one of deposit and issue, under a special charter, and did a prosperous business. But in December, 1848, Mr. Mills decided to leave it and go to Cahfornia, where the discovery of gold gave promise of untold gains for enterprising men. Mr. Townsend agreed to maintain, m any business which Mr. Mills might undertake in Cahfornia, the same relative interest which they had in the bank, and to protect all drafts which Mr. Mills might make. And so Mr. Mills followed his two brothers to the Pacific coast, where he aiTived in June, 1849. It has not escaped observation that some of the largest for- tunes were made in Cahfornia, not in digging gold, but in de- veloping the ordinary industries of the country. And the latter were, as a rule, the more stable. Adventurous men who went thither to pick up gold were often disappointed hi their quest. Those who did make fortunes sometimes lost them again, on the familiar principle, " Easy come, easy go." The substantial for- tunes, or most of them, were made by those who set about sys- tematically to develop the general resources of the country, to create varied industries, and to promote trade and commerce. To such latter enterprises Mr. Mills decided to devote his at- tention. His first undertaking, on reaching California, was to buy a stock of general merchandise and with it make a trading expedition to Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley. To this end, he entered into partnership with one of his fellow- voyagers, and together they bought a small sailing-vessel, loaded it with goods, and went to Stockton, where the cargo was sold at a profit. The two partners then separated, and Mr. Mills retm-ned to Sacramento, deeming that the best center of trade with the miners. He opened a store of general merchandise, buying gold- dust, and dealing in exchange on New York. By November, 1849, he had cleared forty thousand dollars, and was so well pleased with his prospects that he decided to return to Buffalo, close out all his interests there, and make California his home. This he did, and in 1850 was at work again in Sacramento. Thereafter his record was largely the financial and business record of the Pacific coast. He established a bank, called the 268 DABIUS OGDEN MILLS Bank of D. O. Mills & Co., which is still the principal bank in Sacramento. A branch of it was opened at Columbia, under the management of his brothers James and Edgar, In 1857, owing to too close application to business, his health became impaired, and he went to Europe for rest. Returning with health and strength restored, he resumed his business with more energy than ever, and soon had on hand greater undertakings than he had yet known. It was owing to his reputation for judgment, decision, shrewdness, and absolute integrity that he was chosen president of the great Bank of California, when that institution was organized in 1864. It began with a capital of two miUion doUars, which was soon increased to five milhon dollars, and, un- der his wise management, it became known and trusted through- out the world, and was one of the chief factors in developing the greatness of the State. Mr. Mills had taken the presidency re- luctantly, and with the intention of soon resigning it, but he was prevailed upon to keep the place until 1873. Then he in- sisted upon retiring from active business. He left the bank in splendid condition, with capital secm*e, profits large, and credit unquestioned. Two years later he was called back to save it from utter ruin. Its former cashier, WUliam C. Ralston, had been made its new president. He went to Mr. MiUs and asked him to save him fi"om individual faihu-e. Mr. Mills loaned him nine hundred thousand dollars. Then it came out that the bank was in trouble, and two days later its doors were closed. It was found that there had been an overissue of twelve thousand shares of its stock, which had been taken in with Mr. MiUs's loan and retired just before the failure. Mr. Ralston was asked by the directors to resign the presidency, which he did ; and be- fore the meeting of the directors adjourned, his dead body was found in the bay — whether the victim of accident or suicide was never determined. Mr. Mills again became president of the bank, serving without compensation. Its habihties were then $19,585,000, including $5,000,000 capital stock and $1,000,000 reserve, while it had on hand $100,000 in cash, besides its general assets. Mr. MiUs and the other directors raised a fund of $7,895,000, of which Mr. MiUs subscribed $1,000,000. Mr. Mills, in conjunction with WUliam Sharon and Thomas BeU, guaranteed payment of the DARIUS OGDEN MILLS 269 outstanding drafts and credits of the bank ; and on September 30, one month and five days after its suspension, the bank re- sumed business on a sound foundation. By Mr. Mills's timely and skilful management, the bank had been saved and a disas- trous panic on the Pacific coast had been averted. Having thus restored the bank's prosperity, Mr. Mills retired from its presi- dency in 1878. During his residence in California, Mr. Mills identified himself with the general business interests of that State, and invested largely in land, mines, railroads, etc. He also identified him- self with the social and educational interests, becoming a regent and treasurer of the University of California, and endowing with seventy -five thousand dollars a professorship in that institution. He was also one of the first trustees of the Lick estate and the Lick Observatory. In 1880 Mr. Mills transferred his home and much of his capi- tal to New York, and has since been chiefly identified with this metropolis. He retains, however, a fine estate at Millbrae, in San Mateo County, California, as well as many investments in that State. In New York he has become an investor in many substantial properties, and thus one of the great financial forces of the city. He has erected on Broad and Wall streets a great office building, which bears his name, and a similar building in San Francisco. In 1888 Mr. Mills opened and gave to the city a fine training- school for male niu'ses, which he had founded and endowed in connection with Bellevue Hospital. In 1897-98 he built and opened in New York two gi-eat hotels, known as MiUs Houses Nos. 1 and 2. These are equipped with the latest and best ap- pliances, and are intended for the transient or permanent homes of worthy men of moderate means, who cannot aif ord to pay the high prices of ordinary hotels, but desire something better than the squalor of the cheap lodging-houses. The houses accommo- date many hundreds of guests, and are always filled, and are justly to be ranked among the most beneficent institutions ever devised for the aid of the laboring masses. Not almsgiving, but economy, is the key-note of the Mills houses. It is Mr. Mills's theory that industry, education, and economy are the three prime factors for the promotion of the 270 DAEIUS OGDEN MILLS popular welfare. No one has exemplified the first more perfectly than he has in his own career. The second he has generously- promoted by his endowments of educational institutions. The third, and not least, finds concrete expression and effective prac- tice in the Mills houses. " We are too extravagant in this coun- try," said Mr. Mills, in discussing some social problems. "There is more waste here than in any other country. Persons of smaU means as well as persons of large means spend a gi-eat deal more money than is necessary in supplying their needs. The value of money is not generally appreciated, and anything in the direction of an object-lesson in that direction cannot fail to have a benefi- cial effect. One of my objects in establishing these model cheap hotels was to encourage men of hmited means to practise economy by enabhng them to hve comfortably at a very small outlay." It was in such a spirit of pure and pi-actical philanthropy that Mr. Mills estabhshed these hotels. The first one, Mills House No 1, is in Bleecker Street. The second, Mills House No. 2, is in Rivington Street. Those are districts of the city marked at once with industry and with poverty. They are thronged with men who make just enough for a living, and who are danger- ously near the edge of pauperism or criminality. There are hundreds of industrious and well-meaning young men who have been unable, under the old conditions, to save any part of their small incomes. The estabhshment of these houses enables them to save, and assures them comfortable homes in suiToundings that are sanitary both for the body and for the mind. Their wages are not increased, and they are not forced to curtail their desires or needs. But the purchasing power of their wages, for the satisfaction of their legitimate desires, is increased by the ehmi- nation of waste and extravagance. That is the philosophy of the enterprise. While thus providing for the welfare and advancement of the male wage-earner, Mr. Mills has not overlooked the interests of the families, the manied poor, and the women of the masses. The Mills hotels are intended for single men ; but he has built several model apartment-houses for the use of families of small means, in which cleanliness and order, good morals and good plumbing, decent associations and the conveniences of modern DAEIUS OGDEN MILLS 271 civilization, can be had at even a less price than has been paid for wi-etched quarters in the shuns. His experience as a land- lord of such property has proved to Mr. Mills that even the poorest of the poor respond quickly to improved conditions and envh-onments, and cooperate with their benefactors in striving to better their standard of hfe. It may be observed in passing that these institutions, founded by Mr. Mills, are serving as models for others of similar ptu'port in other cities, so that we may properly regard them as the beginning of a general move- ment for the better lodging and better hving of the poor, and of an increase of thrift among the wage-earners of America. In founding this great enterprise Mr. Mills assured for himself — though nothing was further from his purpose than seK-glorifica- tion — a rank by the side of Peabody and the other most eminent philanthropists of the century, those philanthropists who have not only helped their fellow-men, but, what is best of aU, have helped them to help themselves. Mr. MiUs was man-ied, in 1854, to Miss Jane T. Cunningham, who died in April, 1888. She bore him two children, Ogden Mills, a well-known member of the social and business worlds, and Elizabeth, wife of the Hon. Whitelaw Reid. Mr. Mills is a member of the Century, Metropolitan, Union, Union League, Knickerbocker, and other clubs, and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and of the Museimi of Natural History, and is an active worker in and generous benefactor of various other insti- tutions and enterprises for the public good. He I'emains, as he has always been, a man of quiet tastes, of methodical habits, and of unflagging industry. He is in his own hfe a constant exemplification of the theories of industry, intelligence, and economy which he advocates, and he has himself demonstrated their beneficence to the individual and to the community. He gives close personal attention to all the departments of his vast and varied business interests, without ever permitting business to make him its slave. Commanding the gratitude of many and the respect of all, and maintaining his own integrity of physical health, intellectual acumen, and moral character, he embodies in himself a fine type of the successful and pubhc-spirited American citizen. JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN THE Morgan family, which for several generations has been conspicuous in commerce, finance, and the public service, is of Welsh origin, as the name implies. It was planted in this country by two brothers. Miles and James Morgan, who settled in Massachusetts in 1636. From the latter were descended Charles Morgan, the founder of the Morgan Railroad and Steam- ship lines ; Edwin D. Morgan, the merchant and famous War Grovernor of New York ; David P. Morgan, the banker and broker ; Greorge Denisou Morgan, Edwin B. Morgan, and other men conspicuous in business and public life. From Miles Mor- gan were also descended various men of note, foremost among them in the last generation being Junius Spencer Morgan, who, after a prosperous career as a merchant in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, became, in 1854, the partner of George Peabody, the famous banker and philanthropist. Ten years later he succeeded Mr. Peabody, and made the banking house of J. S. Morgan & Co. one of the foremost in the world. He married Juliet Pierpont, a woman of exceptional force of character, and a daughter of the Rev. John Pierpont of Boston. Their first child, bom at Hartford, Connecticut, on April 17, 1837, is the subject of this biography. John Pierpont Morgan inherited from both his parents the mental and spu-itual characteristics which distinguished them, and at an early age inclined toward the business in which his father had achieved his greatest success. He was finely edu- cated, at the English High School in Boston, and at the Univer- sity of Gottingen in Germany. At the age of twenty years he returned to America to become a banker. With that end in view he entered the private banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Co., one of the foremost in New York city, and devoted himself JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN 273 to a thorough mastery of the business. This he achieved to so good purpose that at the end of three years he was appointed the American agent and attorney of George Peabody & Co., a place which he continued to hold after his father's firm had succeeded Mr. Peabody. In 1864: he engaged in banking on his own account, as a member of the firm of Dabney, Morgan & Co. of New York. This firm confined its dealings to legitimate in- vestment securities, and thus achieved much success and won enviable reputation for trustworthiness. Finally, in 1871, Mr. Morgan became the junior partner of the firm of Drexel, Morgan & Co., one of the foremost banking houses of America; and through the death of the elder partners he is now its head, and thus probably the greatest private banker in this country and one of the greatest in the world. Mr. Morgan has made a specialty of reorganizing railroad com- panies and restoring them to prosperity. Among the railroads with which he has thus been connected may be recalled the Albany and Susquehanna, in dealing with which he won a notable victory over strong opponents in 1869 ; the West Shore ; the Philadelphia and Reading; the Richmond Terminal and its successor, the Southern ; the Erie, the New England, and others. He has also done similar work in other departments of industry. For example, when the great pubhshing house of Harper & Brothers failed, in November, 1899, it was he, whose firm was the principal creditor, who took the lead in reorganization and in placing the compauy on a sound footing again. He has likewise been identified with the placing upon the market of large issues of government bonds. In 1877, in cooperation with August Belmont and the Rothschilds, he fioated two hundred and sixty million dollars of four-per-cent. bonds. In February, 1895, the Belmont-Morgan syndicate successfully placed another great issue of United States bonds. Indeed, for years Mr. Morgan's firm has been recognized as one of the foremost in America for such enterprises. The business corporations in which Mr. Morgan is interested as an investor and as a director include the National Bank of Commerce, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, the West Shoi'e Raihoad, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, the 274 JOHN PIEBPONT MOKGAN Pullman Palace Car Company, the Mexican Telegraph Company, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the Manufacturing Investment Company, the Federal Steel Company, the General Electric Company, the Madison Square Garden Company, the Metropolitan Opera House, and numerous others. Mr. Morgan takes a keen interest in yachting, and for years has exerted a dominant influence over that fine sport in Ameri- can waters. He has been one of the chief patrons of the Ameri- can boats in the series of international races for the famous Americans cup, and is largely to be credited with the success in keeping that coveted trophy on this side of the Atlantic. He is himself the owner of the Corsair, one of the largest and finest steam- yachts afloat. His patronage of grand opera, literature, and art, and his leadership in all movements for the higher wel- fare of his fellows, are well known. The list of Mr. Morgan's benefactions to various good causes is a long and impressive one. He gave, in 1897, one milhon dollars to the Society of the Lying-in Hospital of the city of New York for a new building. He gave five hundred thousand dollars to the Auchmuty Industrial School ; three hundred and sixty thousand dollars to St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church, New York, for its memorial parish house ; a large sum, the exact amount of which has not been revealed, to the new Protestant Episcopal Cathedral in New York ; a fine collection of gems to the American Museum of Natui-al History ; twenty- five thousand dollars for the mortgage on the Protestant Episco- pal Chui'ch of the Redeemer in New York; a fine chapel at Highland Falls, New York, where he makes his summer home ; ten thousand dollars to the public Ubrary at Holyoke, Massa- chusetts ; and twenty-five thousand dollars for the electric light- ing of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England. Mr. Morgan is a member of the Metropolitan, Union League, Century, Union, Knickerbocker, Tuxedo, Riding, Racquet, Lawyers', Whist, Players', New York Yacht, Seawanhaka-Corin- thian Yacht, and other clubs of New York, and of others else- where in this and other countries. He has been twice married, and occupies one of the foremost places in the social world of the American metropoUs, besides being a welcome visitor wherever he may go about the world. y^^-.zL /^^^%^>/Str LEVI PARSONS MORTON GEORGE MORTON, or Moui-t, born in Yorkshire, England, in 1585, and married, in 1612, to Juliana Carpenter, daughter of Alexander Carpenter, was the chief manager of the Mayflower enterprise in 1620. He did not come over in that vessel, but followed in the third Pilgrim ship, the Anne, in 1623, and settled at Middleboro, Massachusetts. He was the author of "Mourt's Relation," which book, pubhshed in London in 1622, gave the earliest account of the Pilgrim enterprise. From him the unbroken hne of descent is traced as follows: John Morton, freeman of Plymouth, deputy to the General Court, and original proprietor of Middleboro ; John Morton, Jr., master of the first public school in America, who married Mary Ring, daughter of Andrew Ring; Captain Ebenezer Morton, who married Mercy Foster, daughter of John and Hannah (Stetson) Foster; Ebenezer Morton, Jr., who married Hannah Dailey, daughter of Daniel and Hannah Dailey of Easton, Maine ; and the Rev. Daniel 0. Morton, who was graduated at Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1812, and who married Lucretia Parsons, daughter of the Rev. Justin and Electa (Frairy) Parsons. Levi Parsons Morton, son of the Rev. Daniel O. and Lucretia Parsons Morton, was born at Shoreham, Vermont, on May 16, 1824, and was educated at the local schools and academy. He began his business career at Enfield, Massachusetts, removed thence to Hanover, New Hampshire, and next, at the age of twenty-one, became a dry-goods dealer on his own account, at Concord, New Hampshhe. A few years later he removed to Boston, and finally to New York city, where he became the head of the leading dry-goods houses of Morton & Grinnell. In 1863 he opened an office as banker and broker, under the name of 275 276 LEVI PARSONS MORTON L. P. Morton & Co., with a branch in London known as Morton, Bums & Co. In 1869 Geoi'ge Bliss entered the New York house, which then became Morton, BUss & Co., and Su- John Rose entered that in London, which became Morton, Rose & Co. These two names were thereafter, for many years, synony- mous the world over with financial strength and integrity. From 1873 to 1884 the London house was the Eui'opean fiscal agent of the United States government, led the way in aiding the resumption of specie payments, and was the mediiun through which the Geneva award of fifteen million dollars was paid. The house of Morton, Bliss & Co. went into voluntary hquidation in 1899, and was succeeded by the Morton Trust Company, one of the chief financial institutions of New York. Mr. Morton has long been a leader of the Republican party. He was elected to Congress in 1878, and made a most useful Representative. He declined nomination for the Yice-Presidency in 1880, and the next year dechned appointment as Secretary of the Navy. In the latter year, however, he accepted appointment as minister to France, and in that office had a brilliant and use- ful career. In 1888 he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and for four years filled that place with dignity and honor. Finally, in 1894, he was elected Grovemor of New York State by the phenomenal majority of a hundred and fifty thousand, and gave the State an admirable administration. IVIr. Morton was married, in 1856, to Lucy Kimball, who died in 1871. In 1873 he married Miss Annie Street of New York, who has borne him five daughters. He makes his home in New York city, and at the splendid estate of Ellerslie, on the Hudson, and is a member of many of the best clubs and other organiza- tions. He possesses the degree of LL. D., given by Dartmouth CoUege in 1881 and by Middlebury College in 1883. c^ ROBERT FRATER MUNRO ROBERT FRATER MUNRO was born on August 28, 1852, at Inverness, in the Highlands of Scotland, where his father was a well-known wool merchant. His mother's name was Margaret Frater, and his ancestors on both sides were sturdy farmers in the north of Scotland. Mr. Munro received his education in his native town, and commenced his business career there in the office of the Highland Railway Company. At the age of twenty he went to London, for nine years. He chose the profession of pubhc accountant, and having served the prescribed term of five years as clerk, and passed the neces- sary examinations, he was admitted a member of the Chartered Accountants in England and "Wales. As clerk and later as managing clerk in the office of Messrs. Price, Waterhouse & Co., he had exceptional opportunities for experience in his profession. His work embraced the audit and exammation of accounts of banks, railway companies, firms, and stock companies, the organization of companies, and the administration of trustee- ships, receiverships, etc. He received valuable training in his career as a chartered accountant in England, in the capacities of acting receiver and manager of various mdustrial enterprises. In 1882 certain of his friends who were interested in American railroads prevailed on Mr. Munro to make a three years' trip to the United States, for the purpose of looking after then interests. Mr. Munro accepted the position of controller of the six railroads then owned by the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway Company, with headquarters at Cin- cinnati. Within a few weeks after his arrival in this country, the overissue of capital stock of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway, by the secretary, was unearthed. This 278 ROBEBT FBATEB MUNBO official died suddenly, having destroyed aU his papers. This made the investigation very complicated, and Mr. Munro re- ceived much credit for unraveling and making plain what seemed a hopeless mass of entangled figures, wrapped up in the mazes of twelve different bank-accoimts. At the end of three and a half years Mr. Mimro resigned the office of controller and trav- eled for some months in the United States and Em'ope. The American Cotton Oil Trust was organized about this time, and Mr. Mimro was invited to join the enterprise, which he did, undertaking the task of consolidating the different properties and organizing the commercial part of the business. Trusts were then in their infancy, and the Cotton Oil was second to the Standard Oil. Later, owing to the pubhc opposition to trusts, the American Cotton Oil Company was formed, and succeeded to the property and business of the Cotton Oil Trust. Mr. Munro is vice-president of the company. He is also a director, and a member of the executive committee. He is president of various companies aUied to the American Cotton Oil Company, including the Union Oil Company, New Orleans ; the American Cotton Oil Company, Cincinnati; the Robert B. Brown Oil Company, St. Louis ; the National Cotton Oil Company, Texas ; the Mississippi Cotton Oil Company; the New Orleans Acid and FertiUzer Company ; and the Kanawha Insurance Company, New York. He is also a director of the W. J. Wilcox Lard and Refining Company, New York, and the N. K. Fairbank Com- pany, Chicago and St. Louis. Mr. Munro is a member of the Washington Heights Club, the British Schools and Universities Club, and the Chicago Club. He is a life member and a manager of the St. Andrew's Society of the State of New York. He married, in 1891, Miss A. Nada Swasey, daughter of the late John B. Swasey, a prominent merchant of Boston, with houses in Melbourne and London. Mrs. Munro is an accom- phshed musician. Their only child is a son, William Frater Munro. S>S) WALTER D. MUNSON FOR many years a great and increasingly important share of the commerce of the United States has been in con- nection with the various countries, continental and insular, lying directly to the south, about the basin of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Chief among the countries in question are, of course, Mexico and Cuba. Their proximity to the United States and the reciprocal needs and abilities to supply those needs have made them a natural part of the commercial system of this country, and have led to the establishment of great lines of 'transportation and travel between the ports of the United States and their chief ports. Conspicuous among such hnes is the well-known Munson Steamship Line, with its splendid fleet of vessels sailing from New York directly to Matanzas, Cardenas, Sagua, Caibarien, Nuevitas, Gibara, Puerto Padre, and Baracoa — the only direct line, in fact, to those ports. The founder and head of this line is Walter D. Munson, native of Connecticut. At the outbreak of the Civil War Mr. Munson entered the military service of the nation, and through faithful discharge of duties in the field in various campaigns rose to the rank of major. With the return of peace he devoted himself to com- mercial pursuits, and was engaged therein for fifteen years in Havana, Cuba. Then, in 1882, he came to New York city and established the Munson Steamship Line. In addition to the Munson Line from New York direct to Cuban ports, Mr. Munson has a line of steamers from Nova Scotia to Havana, and another from the Gulf ports of the United States to Havana. His ships carry a large proportion of the traffic between the United States and Canada on the one hand, and Cuba and 279 280 WALTEE D. MUNSON Mexico on the other, especially of the sugar which is brought from Cuba to New York and Philadelphia and Boston. Mr. Munson is president and a director of the Munson Steam- ship Line and of the Cameron Steamship Line. He devotes his attention to these interests, to the practical exclusion of all other business. He has not mingled in political activities, save to dis- charge the duties of a private citizen. He is a member of the (xrand Ai-my of the Republic and of the New York Club. In the borough of Brooklyn, New York, where he makes his home, he is a trustee and treasurer of the Froebel Academy. Mr. Mimson is married, and his eldest son, C. W. Munson, is now associated with him in business, being vice-president of the Mimson Steamship Line. The passenger ships of the Munson Line saihng from New York are the Curityba, the OUnda, the Laueniurg, and the Ardanrose. These are lai'ge, stanch, full-powered steamships, admirably adapted for both passenger and freight traffic, with all apph- ances for speed, comfort, and safety. They rim upon schedule time with marked regularity, and offer to the traveler, whether for business or pleasure, a most desirable means of reaching some of the most attractive and important Cuban cities directly from New York. The company also issues letters of credit for the security of its patrons. Its agencies are found in nearly aU the chief cities of the world. ^'' M, -^^^//-' V ^- 'f. */V- i LEWIS NIXON THE Nixon family, of Scotch-Irish extraction, came from the North of Ireland about 1710, and settled in New Jersey. There its members took an active and prominent part in social, business, and poUtical affairs. Thi-ee generations ago four brothers of the family went to Virginia and settled in Lou- doun County. That was early in the present century. The grandson of one of them, Joel Lewis Nixon, married Mary Jane Turner, a member of the famous Fauquier family of Tui'uers, well- known in the history of the Old Dominion. He was successively a farmer, school-teacher, merchant, justice of magistrate's court, and colonel of the Virginia militia. Lewis Nixon, son of the above-mentioned couple, was bom at Leesbm-g, Virginia, on April 7, 1861. His early education was acquired in private and pubhc schools at Leesburg, including the Leesbm-g Academy. In 1878 he was appointed a cadet midship- man in the United States Naval Academy, at Annapohs, and in 1882 was graduated first in his class. Then, by an-angement be- tween the United States and British governments, he was sent to take a course in naval architectm-e, marine engineering, and gunnery at the Royal Naval College, at Greenwich, England. While in Europe he studied, under government orders, at all the great ship, gun, and armor works of England and France. On his return to the United States, Mr. Nixon was ordered on duty at the famous shipyard of John Roach, at Chester, Penn- sylvania, in connection with the construction of the first foiu* ships of the new United States navy, then in progress there. Next he served under the Chief Constructor at Washington, also in the Brooklyn Navy-Yard. Thereafter he was sent on duty to Cramp's shipyard, and placed on various boards, so that he 281 282 LEWIS NIXON was in a great degree identified with the design and construction of nearly the entire present navy of the United States. In 1890 he was intrusted by Secretary Tracy with the task of designing the battle-ships Oregon, Indiana, and MassacJiusetts. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Nixon resigned from the naval service of the United States, and became the superintending constructor of the great ship-building works of Cramp & Sons, of Philadel- phia. He remained with that company until 1895, during which time it built the Indiana, Massachusetts, Columbia, Minneapolis, loiva, and Brooklyn for the United States navy, and the Amer- ican Line steamers St. Lotds and St. Paul, besides many other lesser ships. After his resignation he was still retained by the Cramps in a consulting capacity. He then purchased the Cres- cent Shipyard, at EHzabethport, New Jersey, where he has since built numerous vessels, including the Annapolis, Vixen, Man- grove, Monitor, Florida, and torpedo-boats O^Brien and Nichol- son, for the United States navy, the Holland submarine boat, various yachts, and numerous steamers for North, South, and Central America. He is sole proprietor of the Crescent Shipyard, president of the International Smokeless Powder and Dynamite Company, vice-president of the New York Auto-truck Company, director of the Idaho Exploration and Mining Company, and trustee of the Webb Academy and Home for Ship-builders. Mr. Nixon became a member of Tammany Hall in 1886, and is now, by appointment of Mayor Van Wyck, president of the new East River Bridge Commission, and is a member of the Tammany Hall Executive Committee. He is a member of the Union, Democratic, Press, Seneca, New York Yacht, Atlantic Yacht, and Richmond County Country clubs of New York; the Metropolitan, and Army and Navy, of Washington ; the Rittenhouse of Philadelphia; the Mattano of Elizabeth, New Jersey ; the New York Chamber of Commerce, the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. He is also a fellow of the American Greographical Society. He was married, on Jamxary 29, 1891, to Miss Sally Lewis Wood, a descendant of Greneral Andrew Lewis of Virginia. They have one son, Stanhope Wood, born in 1894, ■■^■^^w/^ M. J. O'BRIEN COLONEL M. J. O'BRIEN, president of the Southern Ex- press Company, has described the beginning of his business career as a case of " either fish or cut bait." That is to say, he was confronted by absolute necessity. At seven and a half years old he had lost his parents and was compelled to go to work to earn his own living and to contribute to the support of his sisters. It is not to be supposed that he at once accomplished both those aims. That was impossible. But he began in real earnest, and steadily worked his way toward such accomplishment. His first occupation was that of attending to a printing-roller in the publishing-house of John Mm-phy & Co., in Baltimore, Maiyland, for which he received a salary of twenty-five cents a week. At that time, also, he began to go to school, at first attend- ing a night-school, and later one conducted by the Sisters of Charity. Still later, when he was able to do it, he paid for insti-uction, for he was a strong believer in the best possible education. He declares that, if he had to live his life over again, his first aim would be to get a college education. From the printing-house he went to a wholesale drug store, where he at first opened and swept the store and did similar jobs, but in time rose to be a fully qualified druggist. But all the time he had an increasing liking for the express business. So when he was old enough and strong enough for the work he went to the office of the Adams Express Company and applied for a job. So persistent was he that at last the manager told him he could have a job as diiver of a wagon if he would go to Memphis, Tennessee, and would start thither the day after the next, to wit, the Fourth of July. The young man borrowed thirty dollars and started. Arrived at Memphis, he paid his last remaining twenty-five cents 283 284: M. J. O'BRIEN to a man for teaching him how to harness a horse, and then be- gan work as an expressman. Out of his salary of thirty dollars a month he paid twenty-five dollars for board, and it was not easy to save enough to repay the loan on which he had gone to Memphis. In time he did so, how- ever, and then he kept on saving. In time he was promoted to he a shipping clerk, then cashier in the New Orleans office of the company. Various other estabhshments, including a bank, had made offers for his service, but he stuck to the express business. When the Civil War broke out he was inflamed with patriotism for the South, and went to Baltimore, hoping there to join a Confederate regiment. But the express business was so heavy that he was persuaded to take a temporary appointment in the Washington office of the Adams Company. There he served for six months, and then made his way South and entered the Con- federate service on the gunboat BienriUe. Before he saw any active service, however, the immature fleet was destroyed to pre- vent its falling into Union hands. Then he went to Richmond, hoping to get a commission for the field. But again he was per- suaded by the Confederate Secretary of the Treasmy to reenter the express business, in special charge of shipments of money to Southern points. While thus engaged he was appointed by Robert Ould, Commissioner for the Exchange of Prisoners, to his bureau, and was attached to the staff of Major W. H. Hatch. At the end of the war Colonel O'Brien promptly returned to the ways and occupations of peace. His first love had been the express business, and to it he proved faithful. Before the war, it may be remembered, the Adams Express Company did a gen- eral business throughout the South. But in 1860 Henry B. Plant, representing all the Southern stock-holders in that com- pany, piu-chased in their behalf all the rights, titles, contracts, etc., of the company in the Southern States, and thus organized a new corporation, kuo\\Ti as the Southern Express Company. It was with this that Colonel O'Brien was connected during the war. The end of the war left that company undisturbed, and he retained his connection with it. He was for a time in charge of its interests at Atlanta. Thence he went to Augusta to be- come the confidential clerk of Mr. Plant, the president of the company. From this place he was soon promoted, in 1868, to be M. J. o'bbien 285 the general superintendent of the company. At a later date he became vice-president and general manager, and in those offices was for many years the active head of the corporation, for Mr. Plant had so many other important interests that he was able to o-ive only a fraction of his time and attention to the express business. As general superintendent and then as general manager Colonel O'Brien achieved the major part of the great development of the Southern Express Company. With characteristic energy he personally traveled all over the South, establishing new agencies, enlarging old ones, making contracts, and in general promoting the welfare and increasing the patronage of the company. At the time of Mr. Plant's death, in 1899, the company was doing business on nearly thkty thousand miles of railroad, and in nearly every town from the Potomac River to the Rio Grande. Colonel O'Brien received from time to time tempting offers from other express companies, and from railroads, banks, and other corpo- rations, to enter their employment on flattering terms, but un- hesitatingly decUned them all, deciding to stick to the enterprise in which he had attained so great a measure of success. Henry B. Plant died in June, 1899. At that time Colonel O'Brien was in Em-ope. He was informed by cable of Mr. Plant's death, and immediately returned home. On July 11, 1899, a meeting of the board of directors of the Southern Express Com- pany was held in New York city, and Colonel O'Brien was thereat elected president, to succeed Mr. Plant. That office he continues to fill, with the success and distinction that marked his service in other capacities for the same corporation. Colonel O'Brien feels that he owed much to Mr. Plant for his encouragement, and he in turn is disposed to encourage and assist all worthy young men with whom he comes in contact. It is his creed that there is no royal road to success ; circum- stances play their part in every man's career, but success de- pends more upon self than iipon luck. Above all, he beUeves in and preaches the gospel of perseverance. " Stick to whatever you undertake after mature deliberation " is his motto, the value of which he has demonstrated in a signal manner in his own career. DANIEL O'DAY DANIEL O'DAY, the well-known operator in oil, manufac- turer, and banker, is of Irish origin. He was born iu Ireland on February 6, 1844, the son of Michael O'Day. When he was only a year old he was brought to the United States by his family, which joined in the great tide of migration which at that time set hither from Ireland. His entii*e life has, therefore, practically been identified with this country. The family, on coming hither, settled at Buffalo, New York, and in the pubhc schools of that city Daniel O'Day acquired his education, and in that city began his business career. His boy- hood was cast in the days of the oil excitement, when men were " striking oil " and making fortunes in a day. He was only ten years old when the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was organ- ized and began operations at Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. For four years that concern struggled along with varying fortunes, and then it leased its land, near the present site of TitusviUe, Penn- sylvania, to a few of its stock-holdei'S for their private enterprise. They set Colonel E. A. Drake to work on it, drilling an artesian well. He first tried to dig a well in one of the old timbered pits which had been abandoned by the oil-seekers, but he was baf&ed by quicksands. Then he started to drive an iron pipe down in a new place. At the depth of thirty-six feet he struck bed-rock. Thereupon he engaged men to drill the rock, and for month after month the tedious work went on. On August 29, 1859, the drill entered an open crevice in the rock, six inches deep. That was only sixty-nine feet down. The next day the well was found to be nearly fuU of oil. That was the first striking of oil. It was the signal for such a rush as not even the finding of gold in California or in the 286 /ft^/^xi?^ DANIEL o'dAY 287 Klondike could boast. Speculators and opei"ators flocked thither from all over the country. Farm-lands were in a twinkling worth more than city lots. Much of the effort was ill directed and frviitless ; but enough of it was successful for the develop- ment of one of the most gigantic industries of the world. The city of Buffalo was near enough to the oil region to feel the full force of the " boom," and young Mr. O'Day did not take long to decide upon trying his fortunes in the new field. He was twenty years of age when he went into the oil region of Pennsyl- vania, not as a speculator nor as an operator, but to seek employment in the oil transportation business. In that he was successful, and before many years had passed was in a position in which he could himself begin to direct an important business. The transportation of the crude oil to refineries, the latter often at a considerable distance, was at first effected by railroad, the oil being inclosed in tanks, casks, or other receptacles. But in time the idea of pumping it, or letting it flow by gravity through pipes laid across the country, was successfully devel- oped. In this work Mr. O'Day was a pioneer. In 1873-74 he began constructing pipe lines in the oil-producing regions. The first of these extended from the oil-fields of Clarion County, Pennsylvania, to Emlenton, Venango County, Pennsylvania, and was known as the American Transfer Line. It was highly suc- cessful, and following it Mi-. O'Day built various other such lines. In time the process of consolidation, so familiar in other industrial enterprises, came into play. The various pipe hues were consolidated under a common management and operated in harmony. Thus the American Transfer Lines were merged into the United Pipe Lines system, and the latter is now in operation as the gathering system of the National Transit Company. The last-named corporation was organized in 1883, and now owns a vast netwoi-k of trunk and local lines, extending over nearly all of the oil-producing region of the eastern part of the United States. Mr. O'Day was a prominent factor in the organi- zation of it, and he has been its vice-president since 1888. Mr. O'Day has not confined his attention to the oil transporta- tion business. He founded and is the senior partner in the Oil City Boiler Works, a large and prosperous manufacturing con- cern. In 1888 he entered the oil-producing field, as organizer 288 DANIEL o'DAY and president of the Northwestern Ohio National Gas Com- pany. This corporation has a capital of six milhon dollars, and owns extensive tracts of land from which it produces oil and natural gas. It has also an extensive system of pipe lines for conveying its products to consumers. Mr. O'Day's financial standing and high repute have naturally caused him to be associated with banking interests. He has for many years been the president of the People's Bank of Buffalo, New York, in which city he has ever maintained a deep interest, and he is a director of the Seaboard National Bank of New York city, and of several other banks in Buffalo and Oil City. In these and all other business relations he is universally respected for his abihty and integrity. He is regarded as a most efficient executive officer and as a safe and sagacious business man. Ml". O'Day makes his home in New York city, where he has a fine house on West Seventy-second Street. He is a member of the Engineers', Lotus, and Manhattan clubs of New York, of the Buffalo Club of Buffalo, and of the Duquesne Club of Pittsburg, and other social organizations. ALEXANDER ECTOR ORR ALEXANDER ECTOR ORR comes fi'om the famous Scot- JTA- tish clan of MacOregor, a branch of which removed from Scotland to Ireland in the latter part of the seventeenth centmy, settling in the province of Ulster. In the last generation Wil- liam Orr of Strahane, County Tyi-one, married Mary Moore, daughter of David Moore of Sheephill, County Londonderry, and to them, at Strahane, on March 2, 1831, Alexander Ector Orr was bom. It was intended that he should enter the East India Com- pany's service, and a presentation to its college in England was obtained ; but at the age of fifteen an accident occurred which kept him on crutches for three years, and that plan had to be abandoned. As soon as he was able he resumed his studies with the Rev. John Hayden, Archdeacon of the diocese of Deny and Raphoe. In 1850, his physician recommending a sea voyage, he crossed and recrossed the Atlantic in a sailing-vessel, and thus visited several of the seaboard cities of the United States. He was so favorably impressed with them that in the autumn of the following year he returned to New York, and obtained a situa- tion in the office of Ralph Post, a shipping and commission merchant on South Street. Later he served in the office of Wallace & Wicks, and finally, in 1858, entered the office of David Dows & Co. In 1861 he was admitted to partnership in the latter firm, where he has amassed a fortune, and has exerted a commanding influence in the aifairs of the city and nation. Mr. Orr is one of the foremost members of the Produce Exchange. He has twice been its president, and was secretary of the committee that had charge of the work of erecting its 289 290 ALEXANDEE ECTOR ORR btiildiBg. He was for eight years chairman of its arbitration committee, and one of those who perfected its gratuity system. In 1872 Mr. Orr was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, and after serving upon some of its important committees was in 1889 made its first vice- president. This position he held till 1894, when he was elected president, and continued in that office for five successive years. Mr. Orr is a member of the American Geographical Society, the Down Town Association, the City Club, the Hamilton Club of Brooklyn, the Marine and Field Club, the Atlantic Yacht Club, and other organizations. He is also a director of numer- ous banks and trust, insurance, and railroad companies. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, a trustee of its cathedral and schools at Garden City, Long Island, and treasurer of that diocese. Mr. Orr was a trustee of the fund left by the late Governor Tilden to found a public library in New York, and took an active part in consoUdating that estate with the Astor and Lenox libraries into the "New York PubUc Library." One of the most important public services rendered by Mr. Orr has been in connection with the rapid-transit enterprise in New York under municipal ownership. He has been President of the Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners since its creation by the Legislature, and has been foremost in directing the labors of that body which, after years of effort, were crowned in the early part of 1900 by the adoption of the plans of the com- missioners, and the letting of a contract for the construction of a great system of underground rapid transit. Work upon this vast enterprise was actually begun with public ceremonies, in which Mr. Orr took fitting part, on March 24, 1900. Mr. Orr was married, in 1856, to Miss Juliet Buckingham Dows, daughter of Ammi Dows, a member of the firm of David Dows & Co. She died a few years later, and in 1873 he married Margaret Shippen Liiquer, daughter of Nicholas Luquer of Brooklyn. She is a member of the Shippen family, which for two and a half centuries has been prominently identified with the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. OiT have three children : Jane Dows Orr, now Mi-s. I. B. Vies ; Mary Orr ; and Juliet Ector Orr, now Mrs. A. H. Munsell. NORTON PRENTISS OTIS rflHE founder of the Otis family in this country was John J- Otis, who came from Hingham, England, a few years after the Mayflower Pilgrims, and settled in Massachusetts. Later generations of the family made their home in Vermont, and there, at HaUfax, Norton Prentiss Otis was born, on March 18, 1840. His family made several changes of residence during his boyhood, and his education was acquired in various places, including Albany, New York, Hudson City, New Jersey, and Yonkers, New York. His father, Elisha O. Otis, who was the inventor of the modern elevator, had founded in 1855 a small elevator factory. The son entered that factory in 1858 and learned the business. His father died in 1861, and then the son, in partnership with his brother, Charles R. Otis, took full charge. The whole capital of the firm was then less than two thousand dollars ; the plant was inadequate ; and the Civil War made the time seem unpropitious for a business venture. Nevertheless, the young men persevered, and succeeded. They invented and patented various devices for the safety of passengers on the elevators, and these gave them an advantage over competitors. Year by year their business increased. Year by year the output of their factory improved in quality and design. To-day the business of the company is world-wide. Wherever there are modern buildings there are elevators, and wherever there are elevators the name of Otis is known. The firm was long ago incorporated, Mr. Otis becommg its treasurer. He became its president on the retirement of his brother in 1890. On January 1, 1899, the Otis Elevator Company was organized, taking over the property patents and business of Otis Brothers & Company ■291 292 NOETON PRENTISS OTIS and a number of other manufacturing concerns m the same line, and Mr, Otis, wishing to be retired in a measure from the cares of active business, was made chairman of the board of directors, retaining, however, the position of president of the Otis Electric Company. The factories of the corporation are at Yonkers, New York, covering several acres of land, and employing seven hundi-ed men. It is said that three fourths of the elevators now in use in New York are of Otis Brothers' make, whUe a large proportion of them is also to be found in other large cities throughout the world. Among the notable elevators made by Otis Brothers are those in the Eiffel Tower, in Paris; twelve, of twelve thousand pounds capacity each, for caiTying loaded trucks with teams attached, at Grlasgow, Scotland ; one in the Catskill Mountains that carries a railroad train up an incline seven thousand feet long in ten min- utes ; and one running to the top of Prospect Mountain, Lake Greorge. The first great improvement in elevator-building was the introduction of steam-power in 1866. Some ten years later hydraulic power was utihzed. At a still later date electricity was brought into use. In all the successive steps Mr. Otis has taken a keen interest, and has himself been a prominent factor. Mr. Otis has for many years made his home in the city of Yonkers, New York, where the factories of his company are sit- uated. In 1880 he was elected Mayor, and gave the city an admirable administration. In 1883 he was elected a member of the State Legislature. He has also been urged a ntmiber of times to accept a nomination for Congress, but for business rea- sons was obliged to decline. In 1898 he was appointed by Grov- ernor Black a member of a commission of sixteen to represent the State of New York at the Paris Exposition of 1900, and he was unanimously elected its president. In New York city he is well known, and he is a member of the Engineers' Club, the Ful- ton Club, and the Metropohtan Museum of Art of New York city, and of the Amackassin and Corinthian yacht clubs of Yonkers. Mr. Otis was married to Miss Lizzie A. Fahs of York, Penn- sylvania, on December 25, 1877. '%^. -s.*^ ^% FRANCIS ASBURY PALMER THE power of wealth and the importance of sound finance to the welfare of all legitimate business have long been truisms. They are the ready explanation of the influence and exceptional rank enjoyed by the banker in the community. Indeed, in the largest sense, the money power is one of the great powers of the world, since kings and nations are often forced to shape theu' courses according to the will of the great inter- national bankers, who literally hold the purse-strmgs of govern- ments in their hands. In the business or industrial community no tyranny is exercised by the banker. His influence is benefi- cent. It is for him to promote business, to conserve financial integrity, and to make and keep the old saying, " sound as the bank," a vital and significant truth. The career of a man who was the founder and has for more than half a century been president of one of the foremost banks in the foremost city of the Western world is, therefore, marked with especial interest as that of one who has had a more than ordinary important share in promoting the welfare of the com- munity, and who is in an exceptional measure identified with the financial and commercial greatness of the metropolis. Francis Asbury Palmer comes of old English stock, from which he doubtless inherits the characteristics which have con- tributed to the great success he has attained. His first American ancestors were among the Pilgrims who founded a new nation on the North Atlantic coast. For some generations they were settled in New England, and were identified with the develop- ment of those colonies, while at the same time, from the disci- pline of pioneer life, they themselves received a further develop- ment of those traits of character which make for leadership 293 294 FRANCIS ASBUBY PALMEB among men and for mastery over material obstacles. From New England they migrated into New York, and settled among the picturesque hiUs of Westchester County. At the old village of Bedford, in that county, on the famous Bedford Road, which in ante-revolutionary times was already a great highway from the banks of the Hudson River to the Con- necticut vaUey, a village which has been the home and bu-thplace of many a man of note, dwelt in the last generation Lewis Pahner, a farmer, and Mary, his wife. There to them was bom a son, on November 26, 1812, to whom they gave the name of Francis Asbuiy Palmer. The boy grew up on his father's farm, and attended the local schools, finishing his education in the long- noted Bedford Academy. On reaching manhood he came to New York city, and entered business life. His natural aptitude and his force of character secured for him a good degree of success, and before he had " come to forty year " he was able to enter upon the work with which his name is inseparably identified. It was in 1849 that the National Bank of New York city was organized. He was at once made its first president, and has retained that place down to the present time. Amid aU the financial fluctuations and panics the metropolis has known, he has held the bank true to the even tenor of its way, with undiminished prosperity. To this business Mr. Palmer has devoted the chief attention of his life. He was, however, called into public service for a time, in 1871 and 1872, when he was Chamberlain of the city of New York, and had the custody of the city's funds. Mr. Palmer has long been identified with the Congregational Church, and has liberally contributed to the promotion of various rehgious works. He was mamed, on October 30, 1834, to Miss Susannah Shel- don, who is now deceased. He has no children. STEPHEN SQUIRES PALMER NOT many men have a wider range of business interests, or are identified with a greater number of corporations, than the subject of the present sketch. Stephen Squires Palmer, who was named after his grand- father, is of French Huguenot descent on the paternal side, and of Enghsh descent on the maternal side. His father, the late David Palmer, was a prominent business man of New York city, and was vice-president of the National City Bank. Mr. Palmer, the subject of this sketch, was bom in New York city on De- cember 7, 1853, and was carefully educated at a number of pri- vate schools. It was his plan to enter college, but on the very day of his final entrance examination his only brother died, and he gave up his collegiate ambition. Instead of going to college he went into business as an em- ployee of Moses Taylor & Co., the famous commercial house of New York, and has ever since been identified with those inter- ests, being at the present time a trustee of the Moses Taylor estate. His business interests, however, as already stated, have greatly widened, until the hst of them is a phenomenally long one. Thus, Mr. Palmer is president of the Palmer Land Company, the Green Bay and Western Railroad Company, the New Jersey Zinc Company, the St. Louis and Hannibal Raili-oad Company, the Washington Assurance Company, the Harvey Steel Com- pany, the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad Company, the New Jersey Zinc Company of Pennsylvania, and the Palmer Water Company; he is a trustee of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company of New York ; he is a treasurer of the Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad Company ; and he is a du-ector 295 296 STEPHEN SQUIBES PALMER of the American Washer and Manufacturing Company, the Bayonne and Greenville Gas Light Company, the Colonial As- surance Company, the Consolidated Gas Company of New York, the Dickson Manufacturing Company, the Empire Zinc Com- pany, the Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad Company, the Lackawamia Iron and Steel Company, the McNeal Pipe and Foundry Company, the Mexican National Railroad Company, the Mineral Point Zinc Company, the National City Bank of New York city, the New Jersey Magnetic Concentrating Com- pany, the New York Mutual Gas Light Company, and the Valley Railroad Company, besides the various corporations already mentioned of which he is also president. With this multiplicity of business interests, Mr. Palmer has still found time to take an interest in politics, but has held and sought no public office. He is a member of the Union League, Metropolitan, Players', New York Yacht, Tuxedo, Lawyers', and Down-Town clubs, of New York, the Essex County Country Club of New Jersey, and other social organizations. Mr. Palmer's wife died some years ago. He has one son, who is a student at Princeton University. £^.^^ ^•^Z^r^y.T-' JOHN EDWAUD PARSONS JOHN EDWARD PARSONS, who has long been recognized as one of the leaders of the New York bar, is of Enghsh ancestry. His father, Edward Lamb Parsons, was born in Eng- land, and was a member of a family which, though temjwrarily residing in Lancashire at the time of his birth, had for many generations lived at Cubington and Stoneleigh, in Warwickshire. The elder Mr. Parsons came to this country when he was a young man, and engaged in business in New York. He lost his life in a shipwreck in January, 1839, when on his return home from a visit to England. He married Matilda Clark, daughter of Ebe- nezer Clark of Wallingford, Connecticut, and to them was bom, in New York city, on October 24, 1829, the subject of this sketch. The early education of Mr. Parsons was obtained at the board- ing-school of Samuel U. Berrian, at Rye, in Westchester County, New York. Thence, in 1844, he proceeded to the University of the City of New York, as New York University was then called. That institution was then in its early years, and was presided over by Chancellor Theodore Frelinghuysen. Mr. Parsons pur- sued its regular course, which was a high one for those days, and was graduated in 1848. It may be added that he was elected a member of the council of the university in 1865, and occupied that place for about thirty years. The year after his graduation from the university Mr. Parsons began the study of law in the office of James W. Gerard, who in his day was one of the most distinguished lawyers of New York, and in 1852 he was admitted to practice at the bar. He opened his first office on January 1, 1854, on his own account. On the first day of May following he formed a partnei'ship with Lo- renzo B. Sheppard. In the following July Mr. Sheppard was 297 298 JOHN EDWARD PAESONS appointed by Governor Horatio Seymour to be District Attorney of the city and county of New York, and be thereupon appointed Mr. Parsons to be his assistant. Mr. Parsons filled that place until the end of that year, and then retired from it ; and he has never since accepted public office. A history of Mr. Parsons's law practice would be in large mea- sure a histoiy of the bar and courts of New York for the last half century. He has won gi'eat success ; he has practised in nearly all departments of the law, and he has been conspicuously asso- ciated with many of the most noteworthy cases. Among these last may be mentioned the suit of Dunham vs. WiUiams, which involved the title to disused roads laid out in those parts of New York State which were settled by the Dutch ; that of Story vs. the elevated railroad companies, which was stubbornly fought for many years, and in which finally the Court of Appeals decided that the companies were responsible to the owners of al)utting properties for injury thereto ; the Hammersly, Burr, MeiTill, Fayei'weather, and Tracy wiU cases ; and the famous " boodle " case of Jacob Sharp, the street-railroad builder. Mr. Parsons was one of the leading lawyers in the htigation connected with the downfall of the notorious Tweed Ring. He was counsel to the committee of the State Senate which reported in favor of declaring Tweed's seat vacant ; counsel be- fore the Assembly committee of investigation into the Kings County frauds ; counsel before the Assembly committee in the case of Henry W. Genet ; and participated in the trial of Genet for comphcity in the Tweed Ring frauds. He is a leader in the reform movement which led to the impeachment of the judges who had been corruptly subservient to Tweed ; he was selected by the New York City Bar Association as one of its counsel in the initiatory proceedings before the judiciary committee of the Assembly ; he was one of the counsel for the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Judge Barnard ; and he also took part in the trial of Judge McCunn and in the proceedings against Judge Cardozo. Mr. Parsons has devoted himself largely to corporation law, and has been counsel for a number of important business organ- izations. He was counsel for the Sugar Trust, and has been counsel for its successor, the American Sugar Refining Company, JOHN EDWARD PAKSONS 299 since its organization. In that capacity lie has figured in the Utigation and legislative and congressional investigations which followed the formation of the Sugar Trust. Despite the demands of his professional work, Mr. Parsons has found much time to devote to benevolence and philanthropy. His long service in the New York University council has already been mentioned. He was one of the organizers of the New York Cancer Hospital, and has been its president from the beginning. He is president of the Woman's Hospital of the State of New York, and has been president of the New York Bible Society. He is a member of the executive committee of the New York City Mission and Tract Societj^, the American Trust Society, and the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, an original member of the board of trustees of the Cooper Union, and a member of the board of the American Bible Society. Mr. Parsons is a member of the Century Association, the Uni- versity, Players', Metropolitan, Riding, City, and Turf clubs of New York, and of the Lenox Club of Lenox, Massachusetts. He is a member and officer of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York. He is much interested in mission work among the poor children of New York, having been for twenty years and more at the head of a large mission school, and maintaining at his own expense a country home for poor children at Cm-tisville, Massachusetts, at which a hundred children are entertained at a time during the summer. He has a fine home of his own in New York city. He also has a country home at Rye, Westchester County, New York, on an estate long owned by his family, and another at Lenox, Massachusetts, where his place, " Stonover," is one of the most attractive homes and one of the finest model farms in that delightful region. WILLIAM FREDERICK PIEL, JR. THE father and mother of William Frederick Piel were both born in Germany. The father came to the United States in Augvist, 1842, and settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he has resided ever since. He was engaged in various mercantile pur- suits down to 1867. In that year he entered the starch-making industry, and has since that date devoted his attention to it. Wilham Frederick Piel, Jr., son of WiUiam Frederick and Eleanore C. M. Piel, was born in Indianapohs, on December 25, 1851. As soon as he was of school age he was sent to the paro- chial school, and there remained until he was nearly fourteen years old. Then he went to Purdy's Commercial College, Indian- apolis, and was there graduated. Next he attended the North- western Christian University, now Butler University, until 1867. At that time his father organized a company to build and operate a starch factory, and he thereupon left school and became book- keeper for the concern. This company was known as the Union Starch Factory. For years Mr. Piel was thus engaged. He was bookkeeper and general assistant to his father in conducting the business, and at times went upon the road as a traveling salesman of the products of the factory. He also, when it seemed desirable, took part in the work in the factory, and thus gained a compi'ehensive know- ledge of all departments of the business. The original factory building was abandoned in 1873, and a new one was erected. At the same time the style of the firm was changed to that of W. F. Piel & Co. In 1882 Mr. Piel became a partner in the business. Again in 1886 there was The firm was incorporated as the another radical change 300 WILLIAM FREDERICK PIEL, JB. 301 William F. Piel Company, and Mr. Piel was made vice-president, treasm'er, and general manager of it. In 1890 the National Starch Manufactm-ing Company was organized. It pm'chased practically all of the important starch factories in the country, twenty in number, and combined their businesses under one general management. Of this corporation Mr. Piel was at once made vice-president and chairman of the executive committee. At a later date Mr. Piel was elected president of the National Starch Company, which place he still holds. Thus his entire business career has been spent in the starch and glucose industry, with the exception of nine months in a bank. He has made this business a life study, and has witnessed all the stages of its development from a rudimentary estate to its present command- ing proportions. Nor has he been merely a witness. He has himself been one of the foremost leaders in this great develop- ment of industry and has contributed to it more than most of his contemporaries. He has attained his present place through his own energy, integrity, discretion, enterprise, and general business abihty, and has, Mkewise, through the same masterful character- istics, largely contributed to bringing it to its present great proportions. Mr. Piel is now president of the National Starch Manufactur- ing Company, and is connected officially with the Piel Brothers' Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis (makers of children's carriage and ratan-ware), and Kipp Brothers Company of Indian- apohs, importers and dealers in fancy goods and dniggists' sundries. He is a charter member of the Indianapolis Board of Trade, has been one of its directors or governors from its organ- ization, and was its vice-president in 1889-90. He is a member of the Lincoln Club of Brooklyn and an associate member of the U. S. Grant Post, G. A. R., of Brooklyn. Mr. Piel was married at Indianapolis, on June 18, 1874, to Miss Ehzabeth M. Meyer of that city, who has borne him eight children: Luda C, Eleanore J. E. (deceased), Theodore L. W. (deceased), Alfred L., Elmer W., Wilham W., Erwin L. (de- ceased), and Edna H. Piel. Mr. and Mrs. Piel have since 1890 lived in Brooklyn, New York. WINSLOW SHELBY PIERCE THE name of Pierce is a familiar one in nearly all parts of the United States, and is to be met with frequently in national and colonial history, back to the earUest times. The precise date of its transplantation to these shores from England is not known. This, however, is apparently beyond doubt : that it was brought hither some time prior to the year 1630, and that the first American bearer of it came from North- umberlandshire, England. The family quickly rose into deserved prominence in the affairs of the New England colonies, where it was originally planted, and became allied by intermarriage with many other leading families of colonial days. Among these connections were those with the families of Fletcher, Bancroft, Barron, Prescott, and, as is indicated by the given name of the subject of the present sketch, Winslow. All these famihes have retained to the present day a goodly measure of their old abihty and influence, not only in the communities in which they were first planted, but in State and nation at large. The last generation of the Pierce family contained a member named Winslow Shelby Pierce, a native, as had been many of his forebears, of the city of Boston. He entered and practised for a time the medical profession in that city, and attained an enviable rank in it. Before reaching middle age, however, he joined the rising tide of westward-moving New-Englanders, and established himself for a time in Illinois. Thence he was borne still farther westward by the great gold rush of 1849, and be- came one of the pioneers of California. To the development of that Territory into a State he contributed much, and he became himself Controller of the new State. Thence, in turn, he came back eastward, as far as Indiana, where he made his 302 i WINSLOW SHELBY PIERCE 303 home for the remainder of his life. He married Jane Thomson Hendricks, a member of the well-known Hendricks family of Indiana, of which State she was a native. Her ancestors were Scotch, Dutch, and French Huguenot, some of them being set- tlers in Pennsylvania contemporaneously with William Penn. They settled in the Ligonier Valley, some of them afterward moving into Ohio and Indiana. Winslow Shelby Pierce was born at Shelby ville, Shelby County, Indiana, on October 23, 1857. He received his early education in the pubhc schools of Indianapolis. From the high school there he went to Pennsylvania College, Pennsylvania ; and he studied law at the University of Virginia in the summer of 1878. He was graduated from the Law Department of the University of Michigan, in the class of 1879, and then took a postgraduate year at Columbia College, New York. Mr. Pierce, with this ample preparation, was admitted to prac- tice at the bar of New York in Febriiary, 1883, and since that date has been continuously engaged in the pursuit of his profes- sion. He has largely been interested in the legal affairs of cor- porations, and has made special studies of corporate law. He is regularly engaged as counsel for a number of large concerns. Among them may be mentioned the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, and the Texas and Pacific Railway Company, for each of which he is general attorney, and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, and the Union Pacific Company, for each of which he is general counsel. He has held no public office, and has taken no part in political affairs beyond that of a private citizen. Mr, Pierce is a member of various clubs, among which may be mentioned the Lawyers', the New York Athletic, the Metropoli- tan, the Atlantic Yacht, and the Riding Club. He was married at Baltimore, Maryland, on October 14, 1891, to Miss Grace Douglass WilUams. They have four children, namely : AUison Douglass Pierce, Winslow S. Pierce, Jr., Grace Douglass Pierce, and Helen Bancroft Pierce. GILBERT MOTIER PLYMPTON THE descendant of old colonial families, and the son of the distinguished army officer, Colonel Joseph Plympton, a Mexican War veteran, Grilbert Motier Plympton was bom on January 15, 1835, at the mihtary post of Fort Wood, Bedloes Island, New York harbor, where the statue of Liberty En- lightening the World now stands. At five years old he was at Fort SneHing, Minnesota, beginning his education with the chaplain of the fort for tutor. Next he was at Sacket Harbor, New York, where he attended a private school. When his father went to the Mexican War he was sent to hve with his uncle, Gerard W. Livingston, and his aunt, Anna de Peyster, at Hackensack, New Jersey. After the war he went, with his father, to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and then entered Shurt- leff College, Alton, Ilhnois. He left that institution on a promise of appointment to a cadetship at West Point, and pur- sued preparatory studies therefor in New York. But the promised appointment failing, he, at his father's request, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1860. The next year he entered the law school of New York University, and was graduated LL. B. in 1863. His father had died while he was a student, and his mother and sisters were left in his charge, his two brothers and the hus- bands of his two sisters having entered the army at the be- ginning of the Civil War. Mr. Plympton offered his services to the government, gratuitously, to instruct the newly enlisted re- cruits and officers, but his services were not required. He asked for a commission in the army, but was persuaded by his family not to press the matter, as all the other male members of his family were already in the war. 304 GILBERT MOTIER PLYMPTON 305 In his legal career Mr. Plympton had at first a general prac- tice, and later devoted himself to cases in the federal courts and United States Supreme Court. He was eminently successful, but never had real fondness for the profession, which, indeed, he had entered only to please his father. In 1889, having earned a competence, and finding his health impaired, he retired fi-om the legal profession, and in 1892 organ- ized the banking-house of Redmond, KeiT & Co. of New York, to which he has since devoted his attention. Mr. Plympton was married, in 1863, to Miss Mary S. Stevens, daughter of Linus W. Stevens, a well-known merchant of this city, who was the first colonel of the Seventh Regiment of New York. One son was born to them, who died in infancy, and one daughter, Mary Livingston Plympton, who is now living. He has been a director of various corporations, and is a member of numerous clubs and societies, among which may be named the St. Nicholas Club, of which he was one of the founders, the Union, Metropohtau, Riding, Westchester Country, and New York Yacht clubs, the Down-Town Association, the Sons of the Revolution, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of the War of 1812, the Colonial Order of the Acorn, the St. Nicholas Society, the New York and the American Historical societies, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Botanical and Zoological societies, the Chamber of Commerce, and others. His city home is on West Fifty-second Street, where he has a fine hbrary. His summer home is at East Grloucester, Massachusetts. Mr. Plympton has written much for the papers and magazines of the day, and has also pubhshed a number of pamphlets, in- cluding a biogi-aphy of his father, and a history of the Plympton family. EDWARD ERIE POOR THERE is still standing in Rowley, Massachusetts, an old house which was built in 1639 or 1640, by John Poore, who came from Wiltshire, England, in one of the earhest emigra- tions, and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. A grant of thirty acres of land was given to him in the neighboring town of Row- ley, whither he removed, and where, in 1684, he died. His son, Henry Poore, bom in the old homestead at Rowley, fought in King PhiUp's War, was made a freeman of Newbury, and became one of the wealthiest men in the colony. Other members of the family are mentioned in the history of Massachusetts as brave soldiers and worthy citizens. In the sixth generation from the original immigrant was Benjamin Poor, an eminent Boston merchant. He was born in 1794, and married in 1824 to Arohne Emily Peabody of Salem, Massachusetts. The Peabodys are among the best-known families of the State. They descend from Lieutenant Francis Peabody of St. Albans, Herts, England, who came to America about 1635, and became a large landovnier in the towns of Topsfield, Boxford, and Rowley, Massachusetts. His wife belonged to the Forsters, famous in the border history of Scotland. Their descendants were prominent in all the sub- sequent annals of the colony and State of Massachusetts. George Peabody, the banker and philanthropist, was a member of the family. Edward Erie Poor, the son of Benjamin E. Poor and Aroline E. Peabody, his wife, was born in Boston, on February 5, 1837. He was a student in the public schools of that city, and then went directly into business instead of pursuing a collegiate course. He entered, in 1851, the dry-goods commission house of Read, Chadwick & Dexter of Boston, and remained with it until 1864. 306 ^ / ^ EDWAED EBIE POOB 307 In those years he acquired familiar acquaintance with practical business methods, and, being promoted from time to time to more lucrative places, amassed a considerable capital of his own. He was thus enabled in 1864 to engage in business on his own account. He accordingly came to New York city and opened a dry-goods commission house. For a year he conducted it alone. Then, in 1865, he became a member of the firm of Denny, Jones & Poor. Eleven years later the firm was trans- formed into Denny, Poor & Co., under which style it continued until Jime 30, 1898, at which date it was changed to Poor Brothers, the members of the firm being two sons of Mr. Poor. Mr. Poor became interested in banking at an early date, and was for many years a trustee of the Union Dime Savings Bank. In 1886 he was elected a director of the National Park Bank, in 1893 he was elected one of its vice-presidents, and in 1895 was elected president of that important financial institution. He was one of the incoiporators of the Dry-goods Bank, is vice- president of the Passaic Print Works, Passaic, New Jersey, and one of the oldest membei's of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Union League, the Military, the Merchants', and the Manhattan clubs. Mr. Poor was married, in 1860, to Miss Mary Wellington Lane, daughter of Washington J. and Cynthia Clark Lane of Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. They have seven children : Edward Erie, Jr., James Harper, Charles Lane, Frank BaUou, Horace F., Helen, and Emily C. Poor. The two elder sons are associated with their father in business ; the third. Dr. Charles Lane Poor, is a professor in Johns Hop- kins University; and the elder daughter is the wife of W. C. Thomas of Hackensack, New Jersey. Mr. Poor has a fine coun- try place at Hackensack, and when in New York hves at No. 16 East Tenth Street. gNp HENRY WILLIAM POOR HENRY WILLIAM POOR, whose name is identified the world over with raihoad statistics and information, is a New-Englander of old England antecedents. All his ancestors on both sides of the family came from England and settled in Massachusetts in early colonial days, and they and their descen- dants were actively concerned in the building of the nation. His great-grandfather, Ezekiel Merrill, was one of the minute-men at the time of Lexington, and was present, as a commissioned officer, at Bm'goyne's siuTcnder. After the war he went to Maine, and built the Merrill House at Andover, near the Range- ley Lakes, which is now one of the country-seats of the subject of this sketch. Of the illustrious Benjamin Frankhn, Mr. Poor's great-great-uncle, no other mention than his name is needed. Mr". Poor's father, Heniy V. Poor, was a lawyer in Maine, and then for many years editor of the " American Railroad Journal " in New York. In 1865 he retired from business, but since then has written a number of financial works of great value. Henry William Poor was bom at Bangor, Maine, on June 16, 1844. At five years old he was brought to New York city and educated there until he was ready for college. He was graduated from Harvard in 1865, and at once made New York his home and the scene of his business activities. He at first became a clerk in a stock-broker's office, and learned that business so rapidly and so well that in 1868 he felt emboldened to start an office of his own, for dealing in railroad and other securities, under the firm- name of H. y. & H. W. Poor. He then associated himself with C. E. Habicht in the importation of railroad iron. At the same time, in 1868, the young man established the now famous annual publication known as " Poor's Railroad Manual." 308 HENBY WILLIAM POOB 309 This work is the world-wide authority on the finances and gen- eral condition of every railroad in the United States. Mr. Poor has in adchtion to it published many other statistical works of standard value. Mr. Poor entered the banking business in 1880, in the firm of Anthony, Poor & Oliphant, which has from time to time changed its style until it is now H. W. Poor & Co., Mr. Poor being senior partner. The house has had a prosperous career, and is esteemed among the most trustworthy in the city. It represents many great foreign corporations, has acted as financial agent of several important raih-oads, and has issued more than one hundred milhon dollars of railroad bonds. In 1890 Mr. Poor became a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and has since that time individually done a large business there. He is president of the Kansas City and Pacific Railway, and a director of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, the Sherman, Shreveport and Southern Railway, the Bank of the State of New York, the United States Casualty Company, and other corporations. He is a member of many clubs, including the Union League, University, Harvard, Lawyers', Players', Country, Tuxedo, Down- Town, Riding, American Yacht, Seawanhaka Yacht, Aldine, Groher, Barnard, Lotus, City, Arkwi'ight, New York Athletic, and other prominent clubs of New York, and the Algonquin Club of Boston. He also belongs to the Sons of the American Revo- lution, the New York Historical Society, the New England Society of New York, the American Institute of Fine Arts, the New York Greographical and Statistical Society, the Metropohtan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Symphony Society, the Oratorio Society, and the Musical Ai-t Society of New York, and the Hakluyt Society of London. As these associations indicate, he is a man of scholarly and artistic tastes. He is the possessor of one of the finest private Mbraries in New York, and takes much pleasui'e in it. He is also fond of out-of-door sports of all worthy kinds, and was himself in youth noted for his athletic prowess. Mr. Poor was married, on February 4, 1880, to Miss Constance Brandon, and is the father of four children : Henry V. Poor, born in 1880 ; Edith Poor, born in 1882 ; Roger Poor, bom in 1883 ; and Sylvia Poor, born in 1892. HENRY SMALLWOOD REDMOND IN the first half of the nineteenth century two prominent citi- zens of New York were WiUiam Redmond and Goold Hoyt. The former was an importer of huen fabrics from the north of Ireland, of which country he was a native. He was one of the founders of the Union Club of New York, and was an officer and director of many important business corporations. Goold Hojrt was one of the foremost New York merchants of his time, and was related to many leading families of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Mr. Redmond mamed Mr. Hoyt's eldest daughter, and to them was born a son, Henry Redmond. The latter, on reaching manhood, married Miss Lydia Small wood, daughter of Joseph L. Smallwood, a prominent cotton merchant of New York. Henry Smallwood Redmond is a son of Henry and Lydia Smallwood Redmond, and was bom at Orange, New Jersey, on August 13, 1865. Until he was sixteen years of age he was edu- cated at home, at Norwalk, Connecticut, and at the Maryland State College. He went to the last-named institution to prepare for admission to the United States navy, but a change in the administration caused him to lose his opportunity of appoint- ment. From the navy Mr. Redmond turned his attention to finance. He began as a clerk in the firm of Morton, Bhss & Co., where he remained for eight years, making rapid advancement in both proficiency and place. He paid especial attention to studying investment securities, and displayed marked aptitude in master- ing all the details of the banking business. Thus he soon came to be known as an authority on investment securities and their intrinsic values. 310 ':^^ HENRY SMALLWOOD REDMOND 311 In 1889 Mr. Redmond decided to start in business on his own account, and did so. A little later he purchased a seat in the New York Stock Exchange. In May, 1892, in partnership with Henry S. Ken- and Gilbert M. Plynipton, he organized the bank- ing house of Redmond, Kerr & Co., to which fii"m Thomas A. Gardner was afterward admitted. From the outset the success of this firm was noteworthy, and it soon won the confidence of the entire financial community. Mr. Redmond was prominently identified with the work of reorganizing the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1897, and was at that time a du-ector of that road. He is now a director of the Trust Company of America, of the Fidehty Trust Company of Newark, New Jersey, and of many other corporations. Mr. Redmond is a Republican in pohtics, but has been too much engi'ossed in business to take any active part in political affairs beyond that of a private citizen. He is a member of numerous clubs and other organizations. Among those to which he belongs are the Union Club, New York Yacht Club, Racquet and Tennis Club, Knickerbocker Club, Lawyers' Club, Players' Club, Country Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, Carteret Gun Club, Seawanhaka Yacht Club, Philadelphia Club of Philadelphia, the Blue Mountain Forest Game Club, and the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York. ISAAC LEOPOLD RICE ISAAC LEOPOLD RICE, son of Maier Rice, a teacher, and Fanny Rice, Ms wife, is descended from small landed pro- prietors in Bavaria and Baden. He was himself born in Rhenish Bavaria, at Wachenheim, on February 22, 1850. In 1856 he came to this country, however, and his career has ever since been identified with it. His early education was acquired in the Central High School of Philadelphia, an admirable institution of college preparatory rank. Later he went to the Law School of Columbia College, New York, and was there graduated LL. B. mm laude, in 1880. He also took the prizes in constitutional and international law. At the conclusion of his college course Mr. Rice devoted some years to hterary and educational work. He was, in 1882-83, lecturer of the School of Pohtical Science at Columbia Univer- sity. He was also an instmctor in the Columbia Law School, m 1884-86. Mr. Rice then took up the practice of law, devoting himself chiefly to railroad and similar practice, and thus more and more became interested in railroads and other industrial enterprises, at first as counsel and then as a director. Thus he became in- terested in the great combination of lines now constituting the Southern Railway. He was also for a time the foreign repre- sentative of the Philadelphia and Reading Company. Mr. Rice is now deeply interested in the development of elec- tric appliances. He was, from the commercial point of view, the founder of the electric storage battery, electric-vehicle, and electric-boat enterprises. At present he is president of the fol- lowing corporations : the Electric Boat Company, the Electric Launch Company, the Holland Torpedo Boat Company, the 312 1 ^f "i'% /-.^c^ ISAAC LEOPOLD KICE 313 Electrodjoiamic Company, the Chicago Electric Traction Com- pany, and the Forum PuhUshing Company. He is vice-president of the Lactroid Company, and of the Guggenheim Exploration Company, and chairman of the board of directors of the Electric Axle Light and Power Company. He is a director of the Elec- tric Storage Battery Company, the Electric Vehicle Company, the Siemens-Halske Electric Company of America, the Pennsyl- vania Electric Vehicle Company, and the Consohdated Rubber Tire Company. This multiplicity of business interests has not prevented Mr. Rice from becommg known in social affairs. He is a member of the Association of the Bar, the Lotus Club, the Lawyers' Club, the Harmonic Club, the Columbia Yacht Club, the Union League Club of Chicago, the New York Press Club, the Manhattan Chess Club, the Franklin Chess Club of Philadelphia, and the St. George's Chess Club of London, England. As may be supposed from the latter affiliations, Mi*. Rice is a devotee of the game of chess, and has attained great pi'oficiency in it. He invented the new chess opening known as the Rice gambit. He has been xmipire at a number of international chess matches, and presented a trophy to be played for at international universities chess tournaments. Mr. Rice is the author of " What is Music V and of numer- ous articles which have appeared in the " North American Re- view," the "Century," and the "Fonim." He was married, on December 14, 1885, to Miss Julia Hyne- man Bamett, and has six childi-en, as follows : Muriel, Dorothy, Isaac Leopold, Jr., Marion, Marjorie, and Julian. THOMAS GARDINER RITCH THOMAS GARDINER RITCH, whose name has for a full generation been widely and honorably known in the legal profession of New York, may be reckoned a native of this city, although he was actually bom outside of its hmits, at the summer residence of his family, at the pleasant Westchester County village of North Salem. His parents were residents of this city, where his father. Wells Rossiter Ritch, was a prominent merchant. His mother's maiden name was Sarah A. Banium. He was bom, as stated, on September 18, 1833, and in due time was sent to school at Stamford, Connecticut. Thence he went to Yale College, and was graduated with the degree of B. A. in the class of 1854, subsequently receiving fi'om Yale the advanced degree of M. A. A com-se in the Yale Law School completed his academic training. He then came to New York, pursued his law studies further in the office of the Hon. James R. Whiting, and on February 27, 1856, he was duly admitted to practice at the bar of New York. A trifle less than two years later, to wit, on Febi-uary 1, 1858, Mr. Ritch entei*ed into partnership with his Yale College friend, Stewart L. Woodford, and has maintained that connection un- broken down to the present time. General Woodford has been an absentee member of the firm on several occasions, as when he was serving in the army during the Civil War, and when he was minister to Spain. But his name has remained in its place, and at the end of his services elsewhere he has returned to the active work of the office. The firm has been known as foUows : Woodford & Ritch; Stewart, Ritch & Woodford; Arnoux, Ritch & Woodford (1870-96) ; and at the present time, Ritch, Woodford, Bovee & Wallace. 314 /^ THOMAS GAKDINEE KITCH 315 Mr. Ritch has held no political or other public offices, with the exception of that of school trustee for several years at Stamford, Connecticut. He is a director and trustee of several corpora- tions at Stamford, where he makes his home, is a du'ector of the Niagara Fire Insurance Company, and his firm is counsel for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the Union Dime Savings Bank of New York, the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, and other corporations of the metropolis. Mr. Ritch was an executor and trustee of the will of Daniel B. Fayerweather, by which im- portant bequests were made to a number of colleges, and which was the subject of much htigation. Mr. Ritch's college fraternities were Alpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. He belongs to the Yale and Lawyers' clubs of this city. For twenty-five years he has been an elder of the Pres- byterian Church, and is earnestly devoted to its work. He was married, on April 14, 1859, to Miss Maria E. Pratt, daughter of the late Hiram Pratt, once Mayor of Buffalo, New York. They have two children Uving — Mary Rossiter Ritch and Helen Weed Ritch. Mr. Ritch's career has been typical of a large and unportant class of American business and professional men, who pm'sue quiet, industrious, and successfid courses of life, and form the real backbone of the social and civic body. They perform no sensational exploits. Their names are not perpetually sounding in the popular ear. They do not seek nor hold pubhc office. Their words and deeds are not matters of contention. But they do the real work for the welfare of the community and of the nation. Mr. Ritch has been throughout his whole career a valuable citizen in all the relations of life, and has constantly exerted, voluntarily and involuntarily, a potent influence for neighborly friendship, for business and professional integTity, and for loyal citizenship and good government. That is a record to be approved by all, and to be surpassed by none. WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON THERE was for many years no citizen of Westchester County, New York, more widely known and respected than "Judge" Robertson, as he was called among his friends and neighbors. He was for more than a generation an active political leader in a community where party feeling is intense. That he held the respect of opponents as well as of friends is a fact that marks him as, first of all, a good citizen. Wilham H. Robertson was born in the old town of Bedford on October 10, 1823. He received a classical education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. Before he was a law- yer, however, he was an active pohtician. He was only seven- teen years old when W. H. Harrison ran for the Presidency, but he was old enough to go on the stump and do valuable work in the campaign. He was then chosen to be Superintendent of the Pubhc Schools of Bedford. In 1848 he was elected a member of the State Assembly, and served in that body for two years. His first term in the State Senate began in 1853. At its end he ac- qtured his familiar title of Judge, being in 1855 elected county judge of Westchester County, which office he held for twelve consecutive years. In 1860 he was a Presidential Elector on the RepubKcan ticket, and participated in the formal election of Lincoln and Hamlin. At the outbreak of the war he was in- spector of the old Seventh Brigade of the New York National Guard, and in 1862 Governor Morgan made him chairman of the committee to raise and organize troops in his Senate district. In 1864 he was agam a Presidential Elector. His legislative career was resumed in 1866, when he was elected to Congress, serving fi'om March, 1867, to March, 1869. In 1871 he returned to the State Senate, and was thereafter reelected 316 I%ltaii^.. li /tGi^tU-^ €14, WILLIAM H. ROBEETSON 317 four times. He left his place at Albany in 1881, to become Col- lector of the Port of New York by appointment of President Garfield. This appointment was made against the wish of the two United States Senators from New York, who thereupon, to indicate then* displeasure, resigned their seats, and then sought reelection. In the latter aim they were defeated. The incident caused for some years a considerable split in the Republican party of the State, and was probably the inciting cause of the murder of President Garfield by the " crank " Guiteau. This opposition to his appointment was largely due to the fact that at the National Repiiblican Convention of 1880 Judge Robertson had been the organizer of the movement which prevented the nomination of General Grant for the Presidency for a third term. After serving a term in the custom-house. Judge Robertson in 1889 returned to the State Senate, and was reelected for another term. After its expiration he hved quietly at his home in Katonah, and continued the practice of law until his death, which occurred on December 6, 1898. CHARLES FRANCIS ROE THE United States is not commonly accounted a military- nation. It is not biu'dened with a vast standing army, with, the hateful conscription system, or with the other loads which armed powers have to carry. Yet there is no nation in which the militant spirit is more vital, and in which the average citizen is more ready to famiharize himself with the duties of warfare whenever the welfare of the repubhc may require it. The wise constitutional provision for a mihtia in all the States has given us a fine body of citizen-soldiery, and endowed us with vast potentiahties for national defense. It often happens that mem- bers and officers of militia are descendants of soldiers, or have themselves served in the regiilar army of the United States in serious campaigns. Such is the ease with the subject of present consideration. Stephen Roe was a brave soldier in the American army in the Revolutionary War. At the conclusion of that struggle he settled in Ulster Coimty, New York, and there some of his de- scendants have since Uved. His grandson, Stephen Romer Roe, entered the Hudson River trade, and became one of the best-known captains on that river. He was the captain of the steamer Iron Witch and of the famous Daniel Drew of the Albany Line. His son, Charles Francis Roe, was born in the city of New York on May 1, 1848, and was at first educated at an academy at Sing Sing. Then he secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, on July 1, 1864. He was graduated in 1868, and received his commission as second lieutenant in the United States army. He was assigned to the First Cavalry, and served with it until Septem- ber, 1870, when he was transferred to the Second Cavalry. On 318 CHARLES FEANCIS EOE 319 December 28, 1870, he was mustered out of the sei-vice, owing to the reduction of the anny in that year. But in 1871 he re- entered the army as second heutenant in the Second Cavahy, and soon saw some active service. He was the leader of one of the cohimus sent — unhappily, too late — to the relief of General Custer, and his command was the first to reach the field after the battle and massaci-e in June, 1876. From November, 1876, to March, 1878, he served as adjutant. In December, 1880, he was promoted to the rank of first heutenant, and then served as adjutant again until May, 1886. On January 1, 1888, he re- signed his command, for family reasons, and came to New York to live. Soon after his arrival here he became interested in the Na- tional Guard, and was made captain of the New York Hussars. Under his command, that body was mustered into the State ser- vice as Troop A in 1889. Since then it has become a squadron, and ranks, according to competent military critics, as the largest and best-drilled cavalry organization in the country. Under Captain Roe it did unpoi'tant work during the railroad strike at Buffalo in 1892, and the street-raih'oad strike in Brooklyn in 1895. On February 9, 1898, Governor Black nominated him to be major-general in command of the National Guard of the State of New York, and the appointment was at once confirmed by the Senate, without debate. Early in the Spanish War, Gen- eral Roe was appointed by the President to be a brigadier-gen- eral of United States Volunteers, and in that position he did admirable service. General Roe was, some years ago, married to Miss Katherine B. Bogert of Brooklyn, New York, He is a member of the University, Union League, United Service, New York Athletic, Military, Barnard, Driving, St. Nicholas, and United States Army clubs, the Sons of the Revolution, and the American Geographical Society. He is engaged in business in this city, and is the possessor of an ample fortune. THEODORE ROOSEVELT FEW names are so prominently and so honorably identified with the history and substantial growth of New York city as that of Roosevelt. It was planted here in early times by pioneers from Holland. It is perpetuated upon the map and in the records of the city through being borne by a street, a great hospital, and other public institutions. Most of all, it has been borne in many successive generations by men of high character and important achievements, who have fittingly led the way for the present conspicuous representative of the family. For eight generations before him the paternal ancestors of Theodore Roosevelt were settled in New York, and more than one of them attained dis- tinction in business, in philanthropic work, and in the public service of city, State, and nation. They have intennarried with other prominent families, of other racial origins, so that in this generation there is a mingling of Dutch, Scotch, Irish, and French Huguenot blood within the Roosevelt veins. Of such ancestry Theodore Roosevelt was born, at No. 28 East Twentieth Street, New York, on October 27, 1858. He was grad- uated from Harvard in 1880, and then spent some time in Euro- pean travel. On his return home he studied law. In the fall of 1881 he was elected to the State Assembly from the Twenty-first District of New York city. By reelection he continued in that body dui'ing the sessions of 1883 and 1884. He introduced im- portant reform measures, and his entu*e legislative career was made conspicuous by the courage and zeal with which he assailed political abuses. As chairman of the committee on cities he introduced the measure which took from the Board of Aldermen the power to confirm or reject the appointments of the Mayor. He was chairman of the noted legislative investigating com- mittee which bore his name. 320 o-I-JP ^\ O—TD- THEODORE EOOSEVELT 321 In 1886 Mr. Roosevelt was the Republican candidate for Mayor against Abram 8. Hewitt, candidate of the United Democracy, and Henry George, United Labor candidate. Mr. Hewitt was elected. In 1889 Mr. Roosevelt was appointed by President Harrison a member of the United States Civil Service Commis- sion. His ability and rugged honesty in the administration of the affairs of that ofitice greatly helped to strengthen his hold on popular regard. He continued in that office until May 1, 1895, when he resigned to accept the office of Police Commissioner of New York city from Mayor Strong. Through his fearlessness and administrative ability as president of the board the demoral- ized liolice force was greatly improved. Early in 1897 he was called by the President to give up his New York office to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Then again his energy and quick mastery of detail had much to do with the speedy equipment of the navy for its brilUant feats in the war with Spain. But soon after the outbreak of the war in 1898 his patriotism and love of active life led him to leave the comparative quiet of his government office for service in the field. As a heutenant-colonel of volunteers he recruited the First Volunteer Cavalry, popularly known as the Rough Riders. The men were gathered largely from the cow-boys of the West and Southwest, but also numbered many college-bred men of the East. In the beginning he was second in command, with the rank of heutenant-colonel, Dr. Leonard Wood being colonel. But at the close of the war the latter was a brigadier-general, and Roose- velt was colonel in command. Since no horses were transported to Cuba, this regiment, together with the rest of the cavahy, was obliged to serve on foot. The regunent distingiushed itself in the Santiago campaign, and Colonel Roosevelt became famous for his bravery in leading the chai-ge up San Juan Hill on July 1. He was an efficient officer, and won the love and admh-ation of his men. His care for them was shown by the circulation of the famous " round robin " which he wrote, protesting against keep- ing the army longer in Cuba. Upon Colonel Roosevelt's retui-n to New York there was a popidar demand for his nomination for Governor. Previous to the State Convention he was nominated by the Citizens' Union, 322 THEODOKE ROOSEVELT but he declined, replying that he was a Republican. The Demo- crats tried to frustrate his nomination by attempting to prove that he had lost his legal residence in this State. That plan failed, and he was nominated in the convention by a vote of seven hundred and fifty-tkree to two hundred and eighteen. The campaign throughout the State was spirited. Colonel Roosevelt took the stump and delivered many speeches. His plurahty was eighteen thousand and seventy -nine. His administration since January 1, 1897, is fresh in the minds of all. Early in the year 1900 it became evident that he was the pop- ular favorite for the nomination for Vice-President of the United States on the Republican ticket. Personally he would have pre- ferred renomination for the Governorship of New York ; but the unanimity and earnestness of the call for him to take a place upon the national ticket prevailed. In the National RepubHcan Convention at Philadelphia, on June 21, 1900, President McKinley was renominated by acclamation, and Governor Roosevelt was nominated for Vice-President, also by acclamation, and in cii'cum- stances of unanimity and enthusiasm never before known in connection with that office. In the midst of his intensely active life Mr, Roosevelt has found time to do considerable literary work. The year after he was graduated from coUege he published his " Naval War of 1812 " ; in 1886 there came from his pen a " Life of Thomas H. Benton," published in the American Statesmen Series; the following year he published a " Life of Gouverneur Morris," which was followed in 1888 by his popular " Ranch Life and Hunting Trail." In 1889 were published the first two volumes of what he con- siders his gi-eatest work, " The Winning of the West." In 1890 he added to the series of Historic Towns a " History of New York City." " Essays on Practical Politics," published in 1892, was followed the next year by " The Wilderness Hunter," while in 1894 he added a third volume to his " Winning of the West." In 1898 he collected a volume of essays, entitled "American PoHtical Ideas." Since the Spanish War he has written a book on the Rough Riders, and a series of articles on Oliver Crom- well by him has been appearing in " Scribner's." ELIHU ROOT BY nativity Elihu Root is a son of New York State. Through ancestry he belongs to New England, and before that to old England. His father, Oren Root, is admiringly and affectionately remembered as one of the foremost educators of his day, having been professor of mathematics in Hamilton College from 1849 to 1885, and for a part of that time also professor of mineralogy and geology. In 1845 the family home was at Clinton, Oneida County, New York, and there, on February 15 of that year, Elihu Root was born. His early years were spent at that place, and his early education was gained at home and at the local schools. At the age of fifteen years he was fitted to enter college, and the college of his choice was Hamilton, with which his father was so conspicuously identified. There he pursued a course note- worthy not only for his admu'able mastery of his studies but also for the decided and forceful, manly character which he devel- oped. It may be added that he paid his own way through college by teaching school. In 1864 he was duly graduated, and forth- with entered upon the study of the law. At this time his means were still limited, and he was compelled to act as a tutor while he was a law student in order to pay his way. These double duties were, however, successfully performed. His law studies were chiefly pursued in the Law School of New York University, then called the University of the City of New York, and in 1867 he was graduated and admitted to practice at the bar. Seldom does a young lawyer attain success so immediate and so substantial as that which marked Mr. Root's cai'eer. He served an apprenticeship in the office of Man & Parsons, and then formed a partnership with John H. Strahan. Later he formed a partnership with Willard Bartlett, who became a jus- 323 324 ELIHU BOOT tice of the Supreme Court. He was at one time counsel for William M. Tweed. In the famous Stewart will case he was chief counsel for Judge Hilton. He was also chief counsel for the executors in the Hoyt and Fayerweather will cases. He was prominent in the Broadway street-raih'oad litigation, in the Sugar Trust litigation, and in the suit of Shipman, Barlow, La- rocque & Choate against the Bank of the State of New York (growing out of the notorious BedeU forgeries). In the aque- duct litigation of O'Brien vs. the Mayor of the city of New York he was successful against the opposition of Joseph H. Choate, and thus saved to the city some millions of dollars. In many other important cases Mr. Root has been successfully engaged, and at the time of his entry into the President's cabinet he had one of the largest practices in the entire legal profession of New York. Mr. Root early took an active interest in politics, as a Repub- lican. In 1879 he was a candidate for judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and although defeated with the rest of the Re- publican ticket he polled a large vote. President Arthur in 1883 appointed him United States District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and he held that place until the middle of President Cleveland's first term, when he resigned it. He became the leader of the Republican party in his Assembly District, and was the representative of that district on the County Committee. In 1886 and 1887 he was chairman of the Repubhcan County Committee. In 1893-94 Mr. Root became dissatisfied with the " machine methods " of party management, and was a conspicuous member of the Committee of Thirty which undertook the reform of the party organization. Again, in 1897, he was a vigorous supporter of Seth Low for the Mayor- alty, against the Republican machine and Tammany candidates. In 1898 he was an earnest advocate of the nomination and elec- tion of Theodore Roosevelt as Grovemor of New York, and was his counsel in some important matters relating to the campaign. Upon the resignation of General Alger, in July, 1899, Mr. Root was chosen by President McKinley to succeed him as Secretary of War. He at once entered upon the duties of that important office with his characteristic energy and abihty, and soon obtained a masterly knowledge of the details of the depart- ment. He did more than that. He initiated large reforms and ELIHU ROOT 325 improvements in the military organization of the country, and was instrumental in effecting their adoption. The troubles in the Philippines and in China have made the War Department a center of great responsibihty and activity during Mr. Root's incumbency, but the confidence of the President and the nation in his ability to discharge all his duties has never wavered. Mr. Root is a member of the Bar Association, the New England Society, the Union League, Republican, Century, Metropolitan, University, Lawyers', Players', and other clubs of New York. He has been president of the New England Society and of the Union League and Repubhcan clubs, and vice-president of the Bar Association. He has frequently appeared in pubhc as an orator on important occasions, and is esteemed as one of the most eloquent and convincing speakers of the day. He has long been a trustee of Hamilton College, and in 1894 received from that institution the degree of LL. D. HARRY GODLEY RUNKLE HARRY GrODLEY RUNKLE, who before reacliing middle age became a leading and dominant figure in the industrial and commercial world, is of remote Grerman ancestry. His first progenitor in this country was Adam Runkle, who came hither from Grermany in the year 1720, and settled in the then province of New Jersey, where both before and after that date so many of his countrymen settled, and to the development of which prov- ince into an important State they so largely contributed. In New Jersey, and in the northern and eastern part thereof, then known as East Jersey, the Rimkle family remained for generation after generation down to the present time. Its members retained the best characteristics of the old German stock, and also be- came fuUy assimilated to the composite organism which in time became known as the American nation. They exhibited, in every generation and in all walks of hfe, characteristic intelh- gence, energy, and thrift, and became prominent in industrial and social affairs. In the last generation Daniel Runkle, a direct descendant of Adam Runkle, Hved at Asbury, in Warren County, New Jersey, and was president of the important Warren Foundry and Ma- chine Company, in the neighboring city of PhiUipsburg. To him and his wife, Elizabeth Runkle, the subject of the present sketch was bom. Harry Godley Runkle was born at Asbury, Warren County, New Jersey, on June 10, 1858. His childhood was spent at the parental home, but his more advanced education was acquired in the well-known Charlier Institute, at Sixth Avenue and Fifty- ninth Street, New York, facuig Central Park. That was a 326 ^yy^X^/iu^fu HARKY GODLEY RUNKLE 327 school of great vogue and high merit in its time, but it has now gone out of existence. On leaving school Mr. Runkle turned his attention to business, and particularly to distinctively industrial affairs. He became a clerk in the office of the People's Gas Light Company, in Jersey City, New Jersey, entering that employment for the express purpose of learning the business of the manufacture and distribu- tion of gas. Next he became treasurer of the People's Gas Light Company at Paterson, New Jersey. From the latter city he re- moved to the city of Plainfield, New Jersey, and there made his home, and became president of the Plainfield Gas and Electric Light Company, a place which he still holds. In 1887 Mr. Runkle joined himself with R. A. C. Smith in forming the firm of Runkle, Smith & Company, which con- structed the waterworks system of Havana, Cuba. Other corporations besides those named with which Mr. Runkle is now officially connected are the American Mail Steam- ship Company, the American Indies Company, the Connecticut Lighting and Power Company, the Warren Foundiy and Machine Company, the Plattsburg (New York) Light, Heat, and Power Company, and the White Plains (New York) Lighting Company. Mr. Runkle has held and has sought no pohtical office, and has taken no pari in politics beyond that of a private citizen. He is, in both inheritance and personal conviction, an earnest RepubMcan, He is well known in the city of New York, in both business and social life. Among the prominent clubs of which he is a member are the Union League, Manhattan, Lawyers', and New York Yacht clubs, aU of New York. Mr. Runkle was married at Easton, Pennsylvania, on June 3, 1880, his bride being Miss Jeannie F. Randolph, a member of an old and honored family of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Runkle : Daniel Run- kle, who at this wi-iting is a student at Yale, and Mary Gray Runkle. HENRY WOODWARD SACKETT THE name of Sackett has been well known in this country ever since the foundation of the New England colonies. Some who bore it were among the Plymouth Pilgrims. Later several followed Roger WiUiams to Rhode Island, and were among his chief supporters there. In a still later generation was Major Buel Sackett, an officer in the Revolutionary War, and. one of those upon whom devolved the mouniful duty of witness- ing the execution of Major Andre. A son of Major Sackett was a captain in the War of 1812, and a son of the latter, Solon Philo Sackett, became a prominent physician and surgeon at Ithaca, New York. Dr. Sackett, who died in 1893, was the father of the subject of this sketch. His wife was Lovedy K. Woodward, the daughter of Charles Woodward, an English gentleman who, having come to this country on a hunting trip, was so impressed with the charms of central New York that he purchased a large tract of land between Cayuga and Seneca lakes, and made his home there for the remainder of his hf e. He was an enthusiastic and discriminating collector of ornithological and conchological specimens, and amassed one of the- finest private museums of such objects in this country. Henry Woodward Sackett, son of Dr. S. P. Sackett and Lovedy Woodward Sackett, was bom at Enfield, New York, on August 31, 1853. Much of his childhood was spent at the home of his grandfather, Mr. Woodward, under whose influence, as well as under that of his own father, his mind was early imbued with studiousness and with a love of Uterature and science. He received a preparatory education at Ithaca Academy, and at the age of fifteen years was matriculated at Cornell University. He did not at once enter upon the university course, however, but 328 HENRY WOODWARD SACKETT 329 spent some time in teaching. Finally he pursued the full classi- cal course at the imiversity, and was graduated in 1875 with the highest rank in mathematics and various other honors and class distinctions. The next year was spent in teaching at the Monti- cello (New York) Mihtary Academy, and then he came to this city to study and practise law. Mr. Sackett's legal studies were pm'sued chiefly in a first-rate law office, and were combined with newspaper work on the staff of the " Tribune." In 1879 he was admitted to practice at the New York bar, and then became associated in business with Cornelius A. Runkle, who was for many years counsel for the " Tribime " and one of the best-known lawyers of this city. Mr. Runkle died in 1888, and Mr. Sackett succeeded him as counsel for the " Tribune." At that time he formed a law partnership with Charles Gibson Bennett, under the name of Sackett & Ben- nett. Six years later Mr. Bennett was succeeded in the firm by William A. McQuaid, the name becoming Sackett & McQuaid. Mr. McQuaid was educated at Yale University, where he was valedictorian of his class, and he is recognized as one of the most promising of the younger alumni of that university. Finally, in 1897, the firm was fm-ther enlarged by the entrance of Selden Bacon, a son of the Rev. Dr. Leonard Woolsey Bacon and grand- son of the famous Leonard Bacon. Mr. Bacon was formerly professor of equity and practice in the Law School of the Uni- versity of Minnesota. The firm, now known as Sackett, Bacon & McQuaid, has an enviable rank in the legal profession of New York. Mr. Sackett, as counsel for the " Tribune," has won distinc- tion by the unvarying success with which he has defended the occasional libel suits brought against that paper. In connection with that part of his professional work he wrote, in 1884, a brief treatise on the law of libel, especially designed for the use of newspaper men, to inform them upon the subject, and to enable them, as far as possible, to avoid such suits, and to be prepared to defend them when unavoidable. His early fondness for news- paper work has continued, and has been manifested in the writing of numerous editorial and other articles for the " Tribune " on legal and other matters in which he is especially interested. Mr. Sackett has long taken an earnest interest in politics, and has 330 HENRY WOODWAED SACKETT been an efficient worker for reformed methods of municipal administration, but has never been a candidate for office. He entered the National Guard of the State of New York some years ago as a member of Troop A, now Squadron A, the crack cavalry- organization. In 1896 he was appointed aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor Black. During the Spanish War, in 1898, he did several months of recruiting ser- vice in the North, and was paymaster of the New York troops in the South, with the rank of assistant paymaster-general. Mr. Sackett was, from 1895 to 1897 inclusive, president of the Cornell University Club of New York, one of the largest college alumni organizations in the city, and is a trustee of Cornell Uni- versity, elected by the alumni in June, 1899; a trustee of the Society for the Preservation of Scenic and Historic Places and Objects ; one of the organizers of the Society of Medical Juris- prudence ; and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Asso- ciation, the University Club, City Club, Hardware Club, Bar Association, St. George's Society, St. Nicholas Society, American Geographical Society, Sons of the American Eevolution, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, and various other or- ganizations. He is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and a vestryman of St. Thomas's Church, Mamaroneck, New York, at which place he has a tine summer home. Mr. Sackett was married, in 1886, to Miss Ehzabeth Titus, daughter of Edmund Titus of Brooklyn, one of the incorpora- tors of the New York Produce Exchange. RUSSELL SAGE THERE is in all the business world of the United States no more interesting department than that which is found in the money and stock market of Wall Street, and among all the actors in the latter there is certainly no more interesting figure than that of the venerable subject of this sketch. For nearly forty years Mr. Sage has been a leader of Wall Street, and to-day, de- spite his advanced age, he is still as active and as forceful as ever, and there is no one in all the strenuous whirl of American bourse life who exerts a greater influence upon the current of business, or whose operations are watched with more intentness. With a sound mind in a sound body, such dual soundness scrupulously guarded by methodical habits of life, abstinence from the use of tobacco or stimidants, and the keeping of normal hours for sleep, Mr. Sage remains, at eighty-fom- years, as keen of intellect and all but as robust and active of body as any of his colleagues of half his years. Russell Sage was born in the little village of Shenandoah, in the town of Verona, Oneida County, New York, on August 15, 1816. His parents, Elisha and Prudence (Risley) Sage, had shortly before left the Mohawk Valley to go to what was then the far West, in Michigan. After the birth of their son, how- ever, they abandoned their plans of further migration, and re- mained at Verona, removing two years later to Durhamville, in the same county. There they dwelt permanently, and there Ehsha Sage died in 1854, after his son had attained a fortune and a national reputation. Russell Sage spent his childhood upon his father's farm, and at the age of twelve years became an errand boy in the grocery store of his brother, Hemy Risley Sage, at Troy, New York. There, despite his hard work and long hours 331 332 BUSSELL SAGE of duty, he continued the studies he had begun at the district school, and thus in time acquii-ed an excellent education. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Sage became the partner of another brother, Elisha Montague Sage, in a retail grocery store, also in Troy, and a few years later, through enterprise and econ- omy, accumulated enough capital to buy out his brother's interest and become sole proprietor. Thus he prospered until 1839, when he made the store a wholesale establishment, and took John W. Bates as his partner. A large business was done in agricultural produce, beef, pork, and flour, and also in horses, and a number of vessels plying on the Hudson River were first chartered and then purchased by the firm for its use. His prominence in busi- ness led Mr. Sage into pohtics, as a Whig, and he was an Alder- man of Troy in 1845, and for some years after that treasurer of Rensselaer County. In 1848 he was a delegate to the National Whig Convention, and voted for Henry Clay imtil it was evident that the latter's candidacy was hopeless, when he changed his vote to General Taylor, who was nominated. Two years later Mr. Sage was a candidate for Representative in Congress, but was defeated. He was elected, however, in 1852, and again, by an increased majority, in 1854. In Congress he served on the Ways and Means and other important committees, and won wide notice as a valuable legislator. He also took a leading part in the measures which led to the disruption of the Whig party and the formation of the Republican party, to which latter he attached himself at its foundation. During his Congressional career Mr. Sage maintained his busi- ness in Troy, and made frequent trips to that city. On one of these trips he made the acquaintance of Jay Grould, and friend- ship arose between the two men which powerfully infiuenced the after hves of both. Through that influence Mr. Sage was led, in 1857, to give up his business at Troy and devote his attention to purely financial matters. In 1863 he removed to New York city and entered Wall Street. At first he paid attention chiefly to raih'oad interests, but in 1874 he purchased a seat in the Stock Exchange and became a general operator in the transactions of the Street. He was for many years the foremost dealer in what are called, in Wall Street parlance, " puts," " calls," and "straddles." Although associated with Mr. Gould and other I RUSSELL SAGE 333 notable speculators, he has been himself apparently concerned in few large speculative enterprises, and has seldom been seen upon the floor of the Exchange. He has, however, been interested in a majority of the great operations of the Street, and by virtue of his caution and discretion, his indomitable persistence, and his un- rivaled coolness and self-control even in the most exciting crises, he has made his way with probably a more uniform success than any of his contemporaries in Wall Street, and has amassed one of the largest private f oi-tunes in the United States. In the com- pass of such a sketch as this it would be useless to try even to outline the history of his Wall Street career. That history is the history of Wall Street itself for a full generation, Mr. Sage has taken an active part in the construction of more than five thousand miles of railroads, and has been president of more than twenty-five railroad or railroad-construction compa- nies. He is to-day prominently connected with more than a score of important corporations, including some of the foremost rail- road, steamship, telegraph, and gas companies, and banks. He is the only surviving founder and original director of the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York. Mr. Sage has twice been married. His first wife, whom he married in 1841, was Miss Maria Winne, daughter of Moses I. Winne of Troy. She died in 1867. In 1867 he mamed Miss Olivia Slocum, daughter of the Hon. Joseph Slocum of Syracuse, New York. He has no children. Mrs. Sage is a woman of high culture and great personal charm. She has identified herself with numerous movements for the promotion of the weKare of her sex. She was a graduate of the Troy Female Seminary, of which Mrs. Emma Hart Willard was the founder, and has been a most beneficent friend of that admirable institution. In 1895, in honor of his wife and in memory of Mrs. Willard, Mr. Sage pre- sented to the seminary a fine new dormitory, costing two hundred thousand dollars. Because of his wife's interest in it, also, he more recently gave fifty thousand dollars to the Woman's Hos- pital in the State of New York, in New York city, for the erec- tion of a new building. These are only two of many deeds of beneficence which Mr. Sage has performed, simply and unosten- tatiously, in his long and distinguished career. WILLIAM SALOMON WILLIAM SALOMON, well known as a member of one of the great international banking firms of this city, traces his genealogy, on both sides of his family, back to Revolutionary stock. On his father's side he is descended from Haym Salomon, the Philadelphia banker and patriot. His mother's name was Rosahe Alice Levy. She was a granddaughter of Jacob de Leon, of Charleston, South Carolina, a captain in the Revo- lutionary army, and a great-granddaughter of Hayman Levy, who was a prominent figure in the commercial world in the early days of New York, and who was associated with the first enterprises of John Jacob Astor and Nicholas Low. William Jones Salomon was bom on October 9, 1852, in Mobile, Alabama. While an infant he removed with his parents to Philadelphia, where his childhood was spent and his educa- tion was begun. Failing health made it necessary to take him out of school, and in 1864 he was sent to New York and placed under private tuition. He soon gained in strength sufficiently to enter the Columbia Grammar School, where he remained until he was fifteen years of age, and after that devoted him- seK for a period to the study of the French and German languages. In 1865 his parents removed to New York. On leaving school young Salomon at once began his business career in the employ of the house of Speyer & Co., with which he was so long associated. He began in a subordinate capacity, and carefully studied all the details of the business as he advanced. Having familiarized himself with the business of the New York office, he desired to do the same in the European offices of the firm. He therefore obtained permission to trans- fer himself to the principal offices of Speyer & Co. at Frankfort- 334: xZ-'-'^^^'^c^^n, WILLIAM SALOMON 335 on-Main, where lie could study the methods of the house there, and at the same time perfect his practical knowledge and use of the modem European languages. About that time, however, the great war of 1870-71 between France and Germany broke out, and on that account he was compelled to remain in London for a time, in the London house of Speyer & Co. His experience there was useful to him, and then, early in the war, he went on to Grermany for two years and fulfilled his plans. Li 1872 he returned to New York. In 1875, one of the principal partners being called to Europe, Mr. Salomon was appointed manager of the New York establishment, and for many years afterward was prominently identified with its history. The firm of Speyer & Co. has long been actively interested in placing United States bonds with German investors, and in sell- ing the bonds of American railways to European capitalists. Mr. Salomon made a specialty of railway investments, and through his efforts the firm attained a remarkable prestige in this par- ticular line. Some notable loans which it has been instinimental in effecting are those of the Central Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Pennsylvania, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, the Illinois Central, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, and the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railways. Mr. Salomon per- sonally was prominently interested in the reorganization of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway Company, and became chau'man of its board of directors. Mr. Salomon's political af&hations are with the Democratic party, but he has taken no very active part in politics since 1891, when he was chairman of the finance committee of the New York Democracy, which strongly supported the nomination of Mr. Cleveland for the Presidency. He has a marked inclination toward literature, and has contributed a number of meritorious articles on financial and other topics to current magazines. He has traveled extensively in Europe, and has visited every State and Territory in the Union. Mr. Salomon was married, in 1892, to Mrs. Helen Forbes Lewis, daughter of WiUiam McKenzie Forbes of Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland. EDWARD WILLIAM SCOTT THE family of Scott, whicti has been distinguished in pubhc affairs in this country, and which gave to the mihtary ser- vice one of the most gallant and majestic figures in the world's history of wars, settled in the American colonies at an early day. One branch of it became established in Virginia, from which sprang Wiufield Scott. Another was located in Connecticut, and to it belonged Winfield Scott's cousin, William Scott. The latter removed from Connecticut to the western part of New York, and there acquired from the Holland Purchase Land Company an extensive estate, which was in turn possessed by his son, William Scott, Jr. The latter married Louisa M. Brown, daughter of Smith Brown of Rhode Island, whose ancestors were among the earliest English settlers in New England. The son of William, Jr., and Louisa Scott, Edward William Scott, was bom at Lockport, New York, on October 7, 1845, and was educated in the common and high schools of Lockport, the Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts, and Eastman's Busi- ness College, Poughkeepsie, New York. From the first his inclinations were toward a business career, and he promptly selected hfe-insurance as a calling to which he felt best adapted and in which he deemed himseK best assured of success. He began work in a subordinate position, but through energy, application, tact, and integrity he made a steady progress in the favor of his employers and steadily rose from rank to rank. In his early business career he became associated with the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and to its service he devoted his time and ability, with mutual profit. For more than twenty years he was connected with that society, first as superintendent 336 I t I EDWAED WILLIAM SCOTT 337 of agencies, and subsequently was for several years one of its vice-presidents and directors. During this time he established its business in several foreign countries, and in furthering its work circumnavigated the globe three times. In 1896 Mr. Scott resigned his position, and was elected presi- dent of the Provident Savings Life Assurance Society of New York. He is a director of the North American Trust Company, and is connected with other financial institutions. Devotion to his chosen business and the absorbing nature of its duties, as well as following his own tastes, have kept Mr. Scott removed from public offi.ce and from political activities, save such as are incidental to the life of an inteUigent, interested, and patriotic citizen. His extensive travel, combined with his observing mind and loyalty to friends, have given him a very wide acquaintance, both at home and abroad. Mr. Scott is connected with a number of clubs and other social organizations. Among these are the Union League, Colonial (he is one of its ex-presidents). Lawyers', Merchants', New York Athletic, Riders' and Drivers', Suburban, and Columbia Yacht clubs, and the New England Society of New York. Mr. Scott retired from the presidency of the Colonial Club at the expira- tion of his term of office in the spring of 1893, to the great regret of all his associates, who appreciated the valuable work he had done for the club. A farewell dinner was given to him by about a hundred members of the club, on the eve of his sailing for Europe, just before the expiration of his term, and when his positive declination of a renomination had become known. He was married, in November, 1864, to Miss Ellen R. Moody of Lockport, New York. Their family consists of four sons : Edward William Scott, Jr., Walter Scott, Wallace Scott, and Elmer Scott. His home, to which he is devoted, is a center of cultivation and refinement. JOHN MARSTON SCRIBNER THE name of the Rev. John M. Scribner will be remembered by many as the author of a number of mathematical works and the successful principal of young ladies' seminaries at Au- burn and Rochester, New York. To him and his wife, Ann EHza Scribner, there was born a son, at Middleburg, Schoharie County, New York, on October 4, 1839, to whom the father's name was transmitted, John Marston Scribner. The boy at- tended for four years the Delaware Literary Institute at Frank- hn, New York, entered the junior class of IFnion College in 1857, and two years later was graduated. Then he entered as a student the law office of Sanford & Danforth at Middleburg. In the fall of 1860 he came to New York city, and entered as a student the office of the Hon. Hamilton W. Robinson, where he pm-sued his studies to so good an advantage that in May, 1861, he was admitted to practice at the bar. Mr. Scribner remained for some time in the office of his latest preceptor, Mi'. Robinson. At first he was merely a clerk ; but in September, 1863, he was taken into partnership, the firm thereafter being known as Robinson & Scribner. This partner- ship continued until July, 1870. At that time Mr. Robinson became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in this city, and the law business of the firm was transferred to Mr. Scribner. He remained alone for several years, but finally, in Januaiy, 1876, he formed a partnership with E. Randolph Robinson, and thus revived the old name of Robinson & Scribner, which in 1882 was changed to Robinson, Scribner & Bright by the admission of Osborn E. Bright. On May 1, 1890, Mr. Scribner withdrew from the firm and resinned the practice on his own account, and since that time has continued alone in this work. ^ x^^ J- ^ Xjij^z..^-^ % .V i JOHN MAKSTON SCRIBNEB 339 Mr. Scribner's practice has dealt largely with street-railroad affairs, though of course it has included much other legal work in other branches of the profession. In early years he had in charge the legal affairs of George Law's extensive street -railroad system and other interests. For nearly a quarter of a century he was sole counsel for the Bi^oadway and Seventh Avenue Rail- road Company, and during that time conducted a vast amount of litigation in behalf of it. For more than thirty years he per- formed the same service for the Dry Dock, East Broadway and Battery Railroad Company. He has also been counsel for many years of the Eighth Avenue Raih'oad Company, the Ninth Ave- nue Railroad Company, and the New York and Brooklyn Feny Company. He was also counsel for the famous old stage lines which were operated on Broadway and some of the avenues be- fore the construction of the Broadway Railroad. He was for a number of years one of the counsel for the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company in New York and Brooklyn. More I'ecently he has been acting as counsel for the Metropolitan Street Railway Company in its numerous litigations, particularly in personal injury cases, of which he has successfully defended perhaps as many as any lawyer in this State. Mr. Scribner has never held nor sought public office. He has, however, long taken an earnest interest in pohtics as an inde- pendent Democrat. Among the social and professional organizations of which he is a member may be mentioned the Bar Association of New York city, and the University and Lawyers' clubs. He is also president of the board of trustees of the Central Presbyterian Church, and in February, 1899, was the recipient of a massive silver loving-cup from his associates after a service of twenty-five years as a member of the same board. JOHN ENNIS SEARLES AMONG the great industrial combinations which form the jl\ characteristic feature of manufacturing and other business in these closing years of the century, one of the most conspicu- ous and most powerful is the American Sugar Refining Com- pany, commonly known as the Sugar Trust. This vast concern, with a capital of fifty milUon dollars, has for years practically con- trolled the sugar trade of the continent, the magnitude of the operations enabhng it to outstrip all rivals, while also enabhng it to supply the market with an admirable stock of the great food staple at a much lower price than would be possible under other conditions. It is interesting to observe that the organizer of this corporation, and the moving spirit in other concerns of scarcely less magnitude, is a man who began business as a clerk on what would commonly be reckoned starvation wages. The story of his rise from a subordinate to a commanding place, if told in detail, would form a striking chapter of business history, characteristic of the land of unbounded opportunities. John Ennis Searles was bom on October 13, 1840, at the ancient village of Bedford, Westchester County, New York. His mother, before her marriage, was Miss Mary A. Dibble, of that village. His father was the Rev. John E. Searles, for fifty years a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The boy was educated, as was the wont of ministers' sons, at the New York Conference Seminary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and then entered commercial life. His first engagement was as junior bookkeeper for the firm of W. J. Syms & Brother, at 177 Broadway, New York. That was in 1856, when he was sixteen years of age, and in 1857 he entered the employ of Cornell Brothers & Co., in Cortlandt 340 JOHN ENNIS SEARLES 341 Street, as entry clerk. Tliat was a humble beginning for the future millionau'e ; but he stuck to it so faithfully and effectively that at the end of four years' service, marked with occasional promotions, he was taken into the firm as a partner One would say that was a fine achievement for the young man, but it did not satisfy him. The very next year, 1862, he withdrew from the firm, and became identified with the business which was to see his greatest efforts. This was the sugar trade. He became, in 1862, a member of the firm of L. W. & P. Armstrong, a West India shipping firm of New Haven, Connecticut. Partly through his vigorous initia- tive, that fiiTn soon developed a large specialty in the sugar business, and, for the better prosecution of it, removed its head- quarters to New York. He remained in that flirm for eighteen years, making for himseK a handsome fortime and building up a business of great magnitude. The first step toward the Sugar Trust was taken in 1880. In that year Mr. Searles withdrew from the Annstrong firm, and organized the Havemeyer Sugar Refining Company. This was effected by the consolidation of the two firms of Havemeyer Brothers & Co. and Havemeyer, Eastwick & Co. Then, in 1887, other concerns were associated with it in what was popularly called the Sugar Trust, with fifty million dollars capital. Of this Mr. Searles was secretary, treasurer, and chief executive officer. The trust was replaced, in 1891, by a corporation caUed the American Sugar Refining Company, though still popularly called the Sugar Trust, in which Mr. Searles held the same of&ces as before. In January, 1899, however, after a protracted illness, he resigned all official places in the Sugar Company, and also the presidency of the Western National Bank of this city. The latter place he had held for only three years, but in that time he had increased the bank's deposits from nine million to thirty-five million dollars, and had placed it in the foremost rank of financial institutions. The hst of liusiness concerns with which Mr. Searles is or has been intimately connected, as part proprietor or officer, is a long and important one, rivaled by those of few of his contemporaries. Besides his important trusts in the American Sugar Refining Company and the Western National Bank, Mr. Searles is or has 342 JOHN ENNIS SEARLES been interested in the following corporations : the American Coffee Company, as a director ; American Cotton Company, president and director; American Deposit and Loan Company, trustee; American Surety Company, trustee; American Type- founders' Company, president and director; Baltimore, Chesa- peake and Atlantic Railway Company, chairman; Brooklyn Cooperage Company, secretary and director; Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, trustee ; Hyatt Roller- Bearing Company, president and director; Mercantile Trust Company, director; Minneapohs and St. Louis Railroad Com- pany, vice-president and director; People's Trust Company, director; Preferred Accident Insurance Company, director; Sprague Electric Company, du-ector; Tei-minal Improvement Company, trustee and director ; Terminal Warehouse Company, director ; Union Traction and Electric Company, second vice- president and director ; Universal Lasting and Machine Com- pany, director. His chief attention is now given, however, to the American Cotton Company, an organization formed by him in 1896, for putting up cotton directly from the seed cotton into cylindrical lap-bales, thus dispensing with the old crude process and the subsequent compression, and delivering the cotton directly to the spinner in a neat package, without waste, and in an advanced stage of preparation. Mr. Searles is a member of the Lawyers' Club, and the Down- Town Association, of New York, and of the Union League Club, and of the Ridiag and Driving Club of Brooklyn. He has long been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a delegate to General Conferences, and manager in various societies. He is president of the Brooklyn Chiirch Society, and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital, and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. He was married, in 1862, to Miss Caroline A. Pettit. They have had five children : Mrs. Louise Stearns, Mrs. F. O. Blackwell, Mrs. A. B, Roeder, Mrs. Win- throp M. Tuttle (deceased), and J. Foster Searles. His resi- dence on St. Mark's Avenue, Brooklyn, is one of the finest iu the city. HENRY SEIBERT CORPORATIONS form the distinctive feature of the indus- trial and commercial world of to-day. The invention and development of machinery led, a couple of generations ago, to the organization of the factory system, superseding the old system of individual cottage industries. That, in turn, neces- sitated the employment of large capital in industrial ventm-es, and that naturally led to the formation of companies to take the place of individual operators. Finally these companies themselves have found it often to then* advantage to combine into still larger organizations, with a corresponding reduction of the cost of production and distribution. The history of successful men of business in this country is now largely a history of corporate entei^prises, which they have founded or in which they have become interested. Such is the case with Heniy Seibert, who has identified himself with a large number of corporations, in various lines of industiy and in various parts of the United States. Mr. Seibert is a native of Germany, where he was born in May, 1833. His parents and ancestors were all German. In early life* he was brought to the United States, and settled in New York city. He received a good common-school education in the pubhc schools of New York, and then entered the in- dustrial world to make a living and ultimately a fortune for himself. His first occupation was that of a Uthogi'apher. In that there was a certain poetical fitness, seeing that the art of Hthography had been invented by a countryman of his. He learned hthog- raphy thoroughly, and for years worked at it practically, and with success. More than twenty years ago, however, he retired 343 344 HENBY SEIBEBT from that business, and has since not been actively engaged therein. Lithography was not only Mr. Seibert's first business ; it was also the only business in which he has ever engaged. On with- drawing from active participation in it, he devoted his attention to investment in and direction of corporations, and the list of such concerns with which he is or has been identified is a for- midable one. Mr. Seibert's interests comprise a marked variety of industries, such as raOroads, city street-railroads, mining, sugar-refining, brass manufacturing, electric lighting, and banking. He is a director of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Company, whose Unes extend from Chicago to Terre Haute, Indiana, and other points, and form an important transportation system in the Central West. He is a director of the Sea Beach Railroad Com- pany, whose hue has long been one of the favorite routes from the city to the sea-shore at Coney Island. He is a director of the Brooklyn, Queens Coxmty and Suburban Railroad Company, whose electric lines extend to Rockaway Beach and numerous other suburban points on Long Island. He is a director of the Kings County Elevated Railroad, one of the principal overhead lines of transit in the borough of Brooklyn. He is a director of the Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company, a corporation which acquired the lines of the old Brooklyn City Railroad Company, transformed them from horse railroads to electric troUey roads, and revolutionized the whole system of local transit in Brooklyn. Finally, so far as railroads are concerned, Mr. Seibert is a director of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the giant cor- poration which has absorbed the Brooklyn Heights, Kings County Elevated, and other systems, and to-day controls nearly every transit line in the borough of Brooklyn, and is one of the largest concerns of the kind in the world, if not the very largest. So much for railroading in its various forms, general, subur- ban, surface, elevated, steam, cable, and electric. Active con- nection with such an array of companies would be deemed enough for the average man, but Mr. Seibert has extended his interests much further. He is a director and vice-president of the Minnesota Iron Company, and is thus a potent figure in the iron trade of the country. He is a director of the Lanyon Zinc HENRY SEIBERT 345 Company, whose extensive works are located at lola, Kansas, and a director also of the Manhattan Brass Company of New York. These latter are important concerns, of large capital and high standing. Still another field of enterprise has been entered by Mr. Seibert, in sugar-refining, he being a director of the great Mol- lenhauer Sugar Refining Company of New York. While thus interesting himself in industrial enterprises, Mr. Seibert has not neglected what we might term pure finance. He has not opened a banking house of his own, but he is a director of the Nassau Trust Company of Brooklyn, one of the chief banking institutions in that part of the metropolis. IVIr. Seibert is a naturalized citizen and a loyal American. He has not, however, sought any pohtical prominence, but has contented himself with discharging the duties of an intelligent and patriotic private citizen. The only public place he has filled is that of World's Fair Commissioner, at the Columbian Exposi- tion at Chicago, to which he was appointed by Governor Flower. He has not made himself prominent in club life, either, pre- ferring to spend his leisure time within the domestic circle. He is, however, a member of the Hanover Club, one of the foremost social organizations of Brooklyn. Mr. Seibert was married in Brooklyn, in 1860, and has three sons and one daughter, to the preparation of whom for worthy careers in life he has delighted to devote his most earnest attention. HENRY SELIGMAN THE Seligman family, which for many years has been iden- tified with great financial interests in New York city and throughout the United States, and has been one of the chief forces in the financial world of America, presents a remark- able example of the achievements of industry, energy, and integ- rity, in spite of original circumstances of the most discouraging kind. In the last generation it consisted of eight brothers, who came, not all together, to this country fi-om Baiersdorf, Bavaria, more than half a century ago, and entered upon business here in a small way. The eldest of these, and the pioneer in this country, was Joseph Sehgman. He was educated at the University of Erlangen, and studied both medicine and theology. Neither of those professions, however, proved to be to his liking. The bent of his mind was toward practical business affairs. His activity of mind and love of freedom impelled him to seek some ampler field of action than the Old World could afford. Therefore, at the age of seventeen, in 1836, he came to the United States, and thus founded the family of Seligman in this country. The young man found his first employment imder that master of business, Asa Packer, who was then just beginning his great career as a contractor. Mr. Seligman remained in his employ for a couple of years, and then went South and engaged in business on his own account at Greensboro, Alabama. There he was successful, and he determined to make this country the scene of his hfe-work. He, moreover, reckoned it a most promising field for his younger brothers to seek or to make their for- tunes in. He accordingly wrote to them, advising them to fol- low in his footsteps. This advice they acted upon as soon as they were old enough. 346 HENRY SELIGMAN 347 The fourth of them, with whom we at present have most con- cern, was Jesse Seligman, who came hither in 1841, at the age of twenty years. He had scanty means, and at first engaged in the business of a peddler in the subm-bs of New York. Thus accunuilatiug one thousand dollars capital, he went to Selma, Alabama, and joined his brother Joseph in a small general store. In 1848 he removed to Watertown, New York, and then came to New York city, where he opened a wholesale clothing store. When gold was discovered in California he went thither, and in 1850 opened a general store in San Francisco, where he greatly prospered. He was also a leader among those who strove to give California a stable and honest government. He was mar- ried, in 1854, to Miss Henrietta Hellman, at Munich, Bavaria, and a few years later settled in New York, joining his brothers Joseph and James in the wholesale clothing and importing business. In 1865 the brothers organized the great banking-house of J. & W. Sehgman & Co., which soon rose to the foremost rank. Jesse Sehgman took especial interest in national finance, and was the trusted adviser of more than one Secretary of the Trea- sury. He was of great service to the government in placing its bonds in the European market, and his firm has for the last twenty years been conspicuous in every syndicate formed for that purpose. He was prominent in many other enterprises, and in the vast Hebrew charities of New York city. He died at Coronado Beach, California, on April 23, 1894, universally esteemed and lamented. The second of the six children of Jesse Seligman is Henry Seligman, who was bom in San Francisco, California, on March 31, 1857. In his childhood he was brought by his parents to New York city, where he has since chiefly made his home. He was educated in local schools and in New York University, from which latter institution he was graduated in the class of 1875, being then only eighteen years of age. He naturally decided to follow the business in which his father and uncles had won such success. He was under no necessity of working hard, for his father was already very rich. But, with character- istic energy and thoroughness, he resolved to begin at the be- ginning and learn the business from the bottom upward. 348 HENKT SELIGMAN Accordingly he went, in September, 1875, three months after his graduation from the university, to San Francisco, and there became an errand-boy in his father's Anglo-Cahfomian Bank. He worked diUgently and studied, and was from time to time promoted according to his attainments and merits, until he became assistant cashier. Then he was called back to New York, in 1880, and entered the fii-m of J. & W. Seligman & Co., with which he has since been identified. Since the death of his father he has been especially prominent in the management of the fijin and the successful conduct of its vast business, now extending to all parts of the world and exercising an influence in the money markets of Europe and America. Active participation in the affairs of so great, a corporation might be deemed sufficient to absorb the energies of any one man, but it is by no means the measure of Mr. Seligman's activities. He is interested in numerous other enterprises, some of them of great importance. Among his business connections the following may be mentioned : He is director and chairman of the exec- utive committee of the United States Smelting and Refining Company, and a director of the American Steel and Wire Company, the Buffalo Gras Company, the Syracuse Gas Company, the Welsbach Commercial Company, which controls the famous Welsbach incandescent gas-lighting system, and the Cramp Ship and Engine Company, one of the foremost ship-building corporations in the world. To all of these Mi*. Seligman gives a considerable share of his personal attention, and promotes their success by the application of his great executive ability and business foresight. Mr. Sehgman follows in the footsteps of his father in his interest in the great charities and other public benefactions with which the Hebrew element of New York is so honorably identi- fied. He is also a prominent figure in many of the best social organizations, including the Lawyers' Club, the Lotus Club, the Criterion Club, the Country Club, and the Hollywood Golf Club. Mr. Sehgman was married in this city, on March 11, 1899, to Mrs. Addie Walter Seligman, widow of David Seligman and daughter of the late J. D. Walter, the wedding ceremony being performed by Justice George C. Barrett of the Supreme Coiu-t of the State of New York. (KM^^P ISAAC NEWTON SELIGMAN THE name of Seligman has long stood among the foremost in America for successful financiering and for business integrity; and the city of New York has had no foreign-born citizen who has been held in higher and more deserved esteem than the late founder of the Ijanking house which bears that name, the house of J. & W. Seligman & Co. Joseph Seligman was bom at Baiersdorf, Bavaria, GeiTQany, on September 22, 1819, the son of a family of means and culture. He received an admirable education, which included a course at the University of Erlangen, from which he was graduated in 1838. He was noted for his proficiency in the classics, especially in Creek, in which language he was able to converse fluently. After gradu- ation he studied medicine for some time, and also evinced a partiality for theological studies. Thus he secured a general culture of far more than ordinary scope and thoroughness. His inclination finally led him, however, into commercial and financial pursuits. Impressed with the extent of opportunities offered by the United States, he came to this country in 1845. His first occupation here was that of a teacher, for which he was admirably fitted and in which he might easily have attained lasting and distinguished success. It was to him, however, only a stop-gap until he could find a place in the business world. The latter was presently secured in the capacity of cashier and private secretary to Asa Packer, who was then just beginning his famous career as a contractor at Nesquehoning, Pennsyl- vania, and who afterward became the millionaire president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad system. From that service Mr. Seligman passed into a mercantile enter- prise at Greensboro, Alabama. There he was moderately suc- 349 350 ISAAC NEWTON SELIGMAN cessful, and he soon accumulated enough capital to assure him of his business future. He then wrote to his brothers in Ger- many, of whom he had seven, telling them of the advantages offered by the United States and urging them to come hither. Three of them did so at once, and all the rest followed later. Of the first comers, Jesse and Harry Sehgman settled at Watertown, New York, and for seven years conducted a prosper- ous dry-goods business. Joseph Sehgman, the pioneer, mean- while remained in the South, where he was finding increasing prosperity. When the brothers had accumulated enough capital for the piu-pose, and felt sufficiently sure of their ground in the new country, they came to New York city, united their resom-ces, and opened an importing house. To the fii-m thus formed they in time admitted their other brothers, when the latter came over from Europe. Thus they were engaged at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States. Joseph Seligman then real- ized that there was a magnificent opportunity for beginning a career in the banking business. He communicated his views to his brothers, and quickly gained their agreement. Accordingly, the banking house of J. & W. Seligman was opened, in New York city, in 1862. This was the beginning of one of the most marvelous financial careers in the history of America or the world. The Sehgman Bank met with extraordinary success from almost the very first. The New York house rose to commanding proportions, of national importance, and branches were estab- lished in London, Paris, and Frankfort. Branches were also opened in two American cities, namely, San Francisco, where a consohdation was afterward formed with the Anglo-California Bank, and New Orleans, the latter branch being known as the Seligman and Helhnan Bank, Mr. Hellman being a son-in-law of Mr. Seligman, One of the earhest enterprises of the Seligmans was the intro- duction of United States government bonds into the money markets of Europe, and especially of Germany. This was under- taken in 1862, in what was the darkest hoiu- of the Union cause. This nation needed at that time both money and sympathy, and ISAAC NEWTON SELIGMAN 351 of neither had it received much from the Old World. The under- taking of the Seligmans was successful. United States credit was estabhshed in Europe, confidence in the stability of this government was promoted, and much sympathy with the national cause was thus secm-ed. These services were of incalculable value to the nation, and were none the less appreciated because they were also profitable to those who made them. The govern- ment fittingly recognized them by making the London branch of the Seligman Bank the authorized European depository for the funds of the State and Naval departments. Nor was this the only patriotic service rendered by Joseph Seligman. On many another occasion he greatly assisted the government, and indeed saved its credit from impairment, by carrying for it large sums of money. Again, in 1871-72, when the government decided to refund the two himdred and fifty bonds, it was Mr. Sehgman who formulated the plans for the operation and materially assisted in executing them. He was a warm personal friend of General Grant, and was asked by him to accept the office of Secretary of the Treasury in his fu-st administration. But loyalty to his bank- ing interests and to his many connections with large corporations — from which he would have had to separate himself — led him to decline this tempting offer. Joseph Sehgman was a man of broad and liberal sympathies, in whom all beneficent causes found a cordial friend, without regard to distinctions of race or creed. He was the founder of the great Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York, and was in many ways the benefactor of his fellow-Hebrews. But he also aided many non-Hebrew institutions and benevolent enterprises, and he was one of the organizers of the Society for Ethical Culture, to which he gave the sum of seventy thousand dollars. He was married in 1848, and to him and his wife, Babette Seligman, were born nine children, of whom the third son is Isaac Newton Seligman, his successor as the present head of the banking house. Mr. Seligman died at New Orleans on April 25, 1880, universally honored and lamented. Isaac Newton Seligman, above mentioned, was born to Joseph and Babette Seligman, in the city of New York, on July 10, 1855. His education was received entu-ely in his native city, at the Columbia Grammar School, which he entered at the age of ten 352 ISAAC NEWTON SELIGMAN years, and at Columbia College, from which he was gi-adiiated with honors in 1876. Dui'ing his college course he was prominent in athletics as well as in scholarship, and was an eflSeieut mem- ber of the famous winning Columbia crew which won the race at Saratoga in 1874 over Yale, Harvard, and nine other college crews. He has always been a loyal alumnus of Columbia, was for a long time president of the boat club, and was active in raising funds for the new college gi-ounds. Tor two years after his graduation from Columbia, Mi-. Selig- man was connected with the New Orleans branch of his father's banking house. He there evinced a marked aptitude for finance in the earliest stages of his business career, and was soon looked upon as the " coming man " in the rising generation of the SeUg- man family. In 1878 Mr. Sehgman came to New York city, and entered the banking house of J. and W. Seligman & Co. There he showed himself as capable as his New Orleans career had promised he would be, and he immediately became a conspicuous and domi- nant figiu'e in the banking world of the American metropolis. Upon the death of his father in 1880, he, with his uncle Jesse, succeeded to the management of the firm, and at the present time Mr. Seligman is the sole head of the famous house. Mr. Sehgman is a director of the St. Louis and Santa Fe Rail- road, and of the North Shore (Boston and Lynn) Railway, a trustee of the Munich Reinsui-ance Fire Company, the National Sound Money League, the People's Institute, the Cooperative Committee on Playgrounds, the New York Audit Company, the St. John's Guild, and the Hebrew Charities Building. He is a life member of the New York Sailors' and Soldiers' Association, and of the National Historic Museum. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York and was a lead- ing subscriber to its building fund, and was a delegate from it to the Loudon Chamber of Commerce celebration. He is vice-presi- dent of the Baron De Hirsch Memorial Fund, and was treasurer of the Waring Fund. He is a director of the City and Subur- ban Homes Company, which is erecting improved tenements and dwellings. He has been a delegate to the National Conference of Charities and Con-ections. He takes a great and active inter- est in charitable work, and is connected with many charitable ISAAC NEWTON SELIGMAN 353 organizations, especially those looking to the relief and education of the children of the poor. Mr. Sehgman takes an earnest and patriotic interest in public affairs, but has sought no political office. The only such office he has held is that of tnistee of the Manhattan State Hospital, to which he was appointed by Governor Morton and reaj)pointed by Governor Roosevelt. The direction his pohtical interest and affihations have taken is indicated by his official connection with the Sound Money League. He is a member of a number of prominent clubs, among which may be named the Lotus, the Lawyei's', the University, the Natural Arts, and the St. Andrew's Golf clubs of New York. Mr. Seligman was married, in 1883, to Miss Guta Loeb, a daughter of Solomon Loeb, of the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., of New York and Frankfort, Germany. The wedding took place at Frankfort. Mr. and Mrs. Seligman have two chil- dren : Joseph Lionel Sehgman and Margaret Valentine Seligman. HENRY FRANCIS SHOEMAKER HENRY FRANCIS SHOEMAKER, banker and railroad president, was born in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, on Marcb 28, 1845. His ancestors were Dutch, and the first of them in this country were among the corm-ades of Pastorius, the Grerman Quaker and friend of WiUiam Penn, who settled at Philadelphia in 1683. Peter Shoemaker, his great-gi*eat-grand- father, served in the Indian wars of the colonial period, and his son, John Shoemaker, served in the War of the Revolution. In the next generation both the grandfathers of Mr. Shoemaker, Henry Shoemaker and WiUiam Brock, were soldiers in the War of 1812. Mr. Shoemaker himself was an officer in the Civil War. Mr, Shoemaker's great-great-uncle. Colonel George Shoemaker, was the first to bring anthracite coal to the Philadelphia market, and his father, John W. Shoemaker, was a prominent coal oper- ator at Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. John W. Shoemaker married Mary A. Brock, daughter of William Brock, the latter a leading coal operator, and to them was born the subject of this sketch. Mr. Shoemaker was educated in the schools of Tamaqua, and in the Genesee Seminary at Lima, New York. In his boyhood he manifested a keen interest in coal-mining, and when out of school was an almost daily visitor at his father's works. When the invasion of Pennsylvania occurred, in 1863, and Governor Curtin called for volunteers, he organized a company of sixty men at his father's mines, and took them to Harrisburg. He was elected captain, but decUned the place in favor of an older man, and took that of first lieutenant. The company served tmtil after the battle of Gettysburg, and was then mustered out. The next year Mr. Shoemaker went to Philadelphia and en- tered one of the leading houses in the coal-shipping trade of that 354 /lU^ty(^C-^ fl^/C^{JUC^L^A^(^^(^^Juu^l^ HENKY FRANCIS SHOBMAKER 355 city. In 1866 he formed the firm of Shoemaker and Mclntyre, and in 1870 he formed the firm of Fry, Shoemaker & Co., and engaged in the business of mining anthracite coal at Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. He soon saw, however, greater opportunities for hunseK in the transportation business than in coal-mining, and accordingly sold his coal interests and entered the railroad world. In 1876 he became secretary and treasurer of the Central Rail- road of Minnesota. Two years later he took an active part in the construction of the Rochester and State Line Railroad, at about the same time removing his residence to New York. To his raih-oad interests he added that of banking, in 1881, in opening the banking house of Shoemaker, Dillon & Co. in New York. That house has dealt largely in railroad securities. Mr. Shoemaker became interested in the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad in 1886, president of the Mineral Range Railroad in 1887, chaii'man of the executive committee of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad in 1889, and, in 1893, one of the chief owners of the Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railroad. He also is, or recently has been, chau-man of the board of directors of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific, president of the Cincinnati, Dayton and Ironton, and the Dayton and Union railroads, vice-president of the Indiana, Decatur and Western Railway, and a director of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis, and the Alabama Grreat Southern railroads, and also of the Enghsh corporation controlhng the last-named in London. He has been interested in coal-mining in the Kanawha valley. West Virginia, and in the New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company, now part of the United States Rubber Company. He is a trustee of the Tmst Company of New York, and of the North American Trust Company, of the Mount Hope Cemetery, and of the Grood Samaritan Dispensary. Mr. Shoemaker is a member of the Union League, Riding, Lawyers', Lotus, Riverside Yacht, and American Yacht clubs of New York, the Sons of the Revolution, the Grand Anny of the Republic, and the Pennsylvania Society of New York. He was married, on April 22, 1874, to Miss Blanche Quiggle, daughter of the Hon. James W. Quiggle of Philadelphia, formerly United States minister to Belgium. Two sons and one daughter have been born to him. EDWARD LYMAN SHORT THE ancestry of Edward Lyman Short, so far as the United States is concerned, begins with some of the earliest New England colonists. Indeed, we may trace it back of them to Henry Sewall, who was Mayor of Coventry, England, of whose descendants five have been judges, three of them chief judges, in this country. The first of the Shorts in this country was Henry Short, who came over in the famous ship Mary and John, and arrived in Boston in 1634. The first of the Lymans had already come hither, three years earUer. This was Richard Lyman, who settled at Hartford in 1631. In later generations both these famihes were prominently identified with the interests of the rising nation, as witness the names and patriotic records of Lieu- tenant John Lyman, Major Ehhu Lyman, Colonel Samuel Par- tridge, and Captain Timothy Dwight, who were all among Mr. Short's ancestors. Richard Lyman, it may be added, came from High Ongar, England, and his will was the first ever probated in the Connecticut Colony. From Henry Short, a direct descendant, was the eminent theo- logian and educator, Charles Short, LL. D., who was one of the committee on the revision of the Bible from 1871 to 1882, presi- dent of Kenyon College from 1863 to 1868, and professor of the Latin language and literature in Colmnbia College from 1868 to 1886. In the same generation was descended from Rich- ard Lyman Miss Jean Ann Lyman of Greenfield, Massachusetts. She became the wife of Dr. Short, and to them the subject of the present sketch was born. Edward Lyman Short was born, of such parentage and ances- try, in the city of Philadelphia, on September 30, 1854. When he was only nine years of age his father became a member of the 356 il '^. < y*\ay*\ ^A^^nAzr EDWARD LYMAN SHORT 357 faculty of Columbia College, and settled in New York, and the boy accordingly received bis early education in schools in this city. He was prepared for college at Philhps Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, where he was graduated in 1871. He then en- tered Coliunbia College, and was graduated there with high honors in 1875. Choosing the law for his profession, he began the study of it in private offices, and also in the Columbia College Law School, from which latter he was graduated in 1879. In the same year he was admitted to practice at the bar. In 1884 he became a member of the firm of Davies & Rapallo, and has remained in that connection to the present time, the fli-m mean- time changing its name to Davies, Cole & Rapallo, then to Davies, Short & Townsend, and finally, as at present, to Davies, Stone & Auerbach. Mr. Short has made a specialty of cases involving railway in- terests, taxation, iusm-ance, and corporation law, and has come to be recognized as an authority in such matters. He has written a standard work on " Railway Bonds and Mortgages." Among railroad companies in whose litigation he has par- ticipated are the Wabash, the Scioto Valley, the Minneapolis and St. Louis, and the Lackawanna and Pittsburg. He has for some time been general sohcitor for the Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany of this city. He was also engaged in the important tax case of the Horn Silver Mining Company, the Hillman fraud case, and the Runk suicide case, before the Supreme Court of the United States. He has never held nor sought pohtical office, but has devoted his attention almost exclusively to the practice of his profession. He has foimd recreation and intellectual elevation in travel abroad, and in the cultivation of artistic and hterary tastes. He is a member of many of the best social organizations of the city, among them being the University, Metropolitan, Church, Law- yers', and Down-Town clubs, the Riding Club, the Sons of the Revolution, and the Society of Colonial Wars. Mr. Short was mamed in this city, in November, 1887, to Miss Livingston Petit, daughter of John Jules Petit, and has one daughter, Anna Livingston, and one son, Livingston Lyman Short. CHARLES STEWART SMITH CHARLES STEWART SMITH comes, on Ms father's side, fi'om the early English stock that settled in the Connecti- cut valley in 1641, and is sixth in descent from Lieutenant Sam- uel Smith, Sr., and the Hon. Richard Treat, both distinguished in colonial histoiy ; and, on his mother's side, from the best stock of New Jersey, her father, Aaron Dickinson Woodi'uff, having been for many years Attorney-Greneral and one of the foremost lawyers of that State. He was bom on March 2, 1832, at Exeter, New Hampshire, where his father was a Congregational minister. From his father he acquired the rudiments of a good education, including Latin and Greek. Then he went to the village school and academy, and at the age of fifteen was able himself to be- come a school-teacher in a Connecticut village. A few years later he came to New York, and at once fell into the business pursuit which was to claim his life's attention, and in which he was to achieve a greater than ordinary measui-e of success. He became a clerk in a dry-goods jobbing-house. In a short time he became master of the details of the business, and showed himself to be industrious and trustworthy. Promotion followed as a matter of course. At the age of twenty-one he was admitted to partnership in the important house of S. B. Chittenden & Co., and thereafter lived abroad for several years as its European rep- resentative. His experience there was just what was needed to complete his training as a man of affau's. On his return to America, he organized a firm of his own, un- der the name of Smith, Hogg & Gardiner, which succeeded to the dry-goods commission business of the Boston house of A. & A, Lawrence, and for a quarter of a century had a prosperous 358 CHARLES STEWART SMITH 359 career. In 1887 he retired from active labor, thougli his firm contiimed under the same name. His abihty as a financier naturally led him into other enter- prises, especially banking. He was one of the founders of the Fifth Avenue Bank, and of the German-American Insurance Company. He is a director of the United States Trust Com- pany, the Fourth National Bank, the Merchants' National Bank, the Fifth Avenue Bank, the Greenwich Savings Bank, and the Equitable Life Assiu-ance Society. He is also a trustee of the Presbyterian Hospital. The esteem in which he is held by his associates in the busi- ness world has been strikingly shown by his election, in 1887, as twenty-sixth president of the Chamber of Commerce, and his unanimous reelection for seven successive terms. He has taken a good citizen's active interest in pohtics, but has never held pohtical office. The nomination to the Mayoralty of the city was once offered to him, but declmed. Mr. Smith was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Committee on Railroad Transpor- tation which caused the investigation to be made by the Hepburn Committee, in 1879, which secured for New York State the Rail- road Commission. He was chairman of the executive committee of the Committee of Seventy that overthrew Tammany and elected Mayor Strong in 1891, and was also chairman of the Cit- izens' Union, in 1897, that nominated Seth Low for Mayor, and, with an organization existing but six months, cast one hundred and fifty thousand votes for its candidate, and was only defeated by the hostility of the machines, which feared a municipal gov- ernment imtrammeled by party obUgations. He is a member of the Union League, Century, Metropolitan, Merchants', City, Lawyers', and Players' clubs, and is a member of the New England Society, the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, and the Society of Colonial Wars, and is a well-known figure and frequently toast-master or speaker at many public dinners and meetings. He is a hf e member of the Academy of Design and of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and possesses a valu- able collection of paintings. He has presented to the Metropol- itan Museum a collection of Japanese and Chinese porcelains and other objects. Mr. Smith has been a frequent contributor to some of the best magazines and reviews. DE WITT SMITH AMONGr tlie younger financiers of New York, the financial Jr\^ capital of the Western world, there are few who are as suc- cessful and as favorably known, both locally and throughout the country at large, as De Witt Smith, the president of the Rich- mond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad Company. Mr. Smith is a native of the northern part of New York State, where his father was for many years prominent and honored in transportation and financial circles. He was bom at Cape Vin- cent, New York, on March 31, 1858, but spent most of his boy- hood in the city of Oswego, New York, and acquired his early education in its schools. The family remained at Oswego until the year 1876, when it removed to St. Louis, where Mr. Smith's father was extensively interested in the lumber trade. Mr. Smith, who was then eighteen years old and through with the common and grammar schools, of course accompanied his family to Michigan, and there began his own business career. His inclination was strongly toward finance, and accordingly his first employment was in the Gratiot County Bank of St. Louis, Michigan. He had not had previous experience in such work, but he entered into his duties more as an expert than as a novice. From the hour of his entry into the bank he showed exceptional aptitude for financial transactions, and rare good judgment in conducting them — the qualities which, more fuUy developed, have marked his subsequent career with so great a measure of success. Promotion after promotion came in rapid sequence, and within a year he became practically the manager of the bank. But Mr. Smith was a firm believer in the " higher education," for business men as well as for members of the learned professions. It had been his boyish ambition to pursue 360 r DE WITT SMITH 361 a regular collegiate course, deeming such cultui'e as an advan- tageous preparation for any worthy career. His parents also encom-aged him in this ambition, especially his mother, who was a lady of remarkable intellectiiality and wide culture. Accordingly he resigned his place in the Gratiot County Bank, with all its bright prospects of preferment in the financial world, and came back to the East to become a college student. Yale was the imiversity of his choice, and he was matriculated there as a member of the class of 1886. In that venerable institution he soon attained high rank as a scholar. During his course at Yale he found time to pursue the theological studies of the Yale Divinity School, in which he was specially interested as an intellectual pursuit. After ]Mr. Smith left Yale he became fully persuaded that his most suitable course was to be found in the business world. So he entered business in New York city. Here he devoted his attention to financial enterprises. One of the first and closest friends of Mr. Smith in New York was Professor Charles Top- pan, who was known as an " oil genius," as well as a man of sterling worth. The fact that Mr. Smith became his intimate friend and associate is in itself a fine indication of the young man's admirable character. Through this acquaintance Mr. Smith was placed upon the threshold of a promising career in the oil trade. He was soon brought into close relations with the officers of the Standard Oil Company, and made with that corporation some contracts of great importance. Unfortunately, before he was fully launched upon this course of operations, his friend Professor Toppan died, and he was accordingly compelled to abandon that promising field. He immediately tm-ned his attention to another and more promising field — namely, that of railroading. He was quick to appreciate the advantages that might be gained in many places by consolidating under one management a number of roads, thus making a profitable trunk-line out of what had been a series of separate and struggling raih'oads. He found an opportunity for such work along the Southern Atlantic seaboard, and acquu-ed by purchase from the city of Petersburg its control of the Richmond, Petersburg, and CaroUna Railroad. He forthwith financed and constructed a one-hundred-mile extension south 362 DE WITT SMITH into North Carolina, making connection with the Richmond, Fredericksbui'g and Potomac Railroad. During 1898 he person- ally conducted the negotiations for the purpose of the various railroad properties composing the entire Seaboard Air Line in behalf of the syndicate of which he was a member, and was a prime factor in the amalgamation of a number of Southern roads into the gi-eater Seaboard Aii- Line, which caused so marked a sensation in the railroad and financial world in the fall of 1899. Mr. Smith is still an important member of the Seaboard Air Line Syndicate, but he has also turned his attention to other enterprises of a similar nature, to all of which his direction seems to be an assurance of profitable progress. He is now, as already stated, president of the Richmond, Petersburg and Caro- hna Railroad, the affaks of which company he directs with signal skill. He is also the principal owner, as he was the organizer, of the Colonial Construction Company, a corporation which controls a number of railroad consti-uction contracts amounting to many milUons of dollars. Mr. Smith's various enterprises have entailed upon him a great amount of traveling about the coimtry. His home and his principal office are, however, in New York city. His private offices are connected with the sumptuous suite of rooms occu- pied by the Richmond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad Com- pany, including the entire front of the fourteenth floor of the Washington Life Insurance Company's Building, on the lower part of Broadway. He has a handsome home on West Eighty- fifth Street, and there spends most of his leisure time, for his tastes are decidedly domestic. He is a member of the Lawyers' Club and a number of other clubs, but holds that clubs are made for men, not men for clubs. Welcomed as he always is wherever he goes, therefore, he makes his club associates a mere incident of his life, his chief attention being given to his offices and his home. He is a man of much " personal magnetism " and charm of manner, and eminently fitted to become a social leader, or to pursue a successful career in politics. To the latter, however, he has paid little attention beyond discharging the duties of an intelligent and pubhc-spirited citizen. I JOHN SABINE SMITH THE subject of this sketch comes of a family that was honor- ably known in England many generations ago. On his father's side his ancestry includes Captain James Parker, who was engaged ia the King Philip War in 1676. His great-grand- father was the founder of Windsor, Vermont ; his grandfather was the first white child born in that town; and his father was for more than fifty years a prominent physician, practising at Randolph, Vermont. John Sabine Smith was born at Randolph, on April 24, 1843. He was forced to gain an education through his own energies. After a preparatory course, he went to Ti'inity College, Hartford, Connecticut, at the age of sixteen, and though compelled to spend much time ia working to pay his way, he was graduated, four years later, at the head of his class. Then for five years he taught school at Troy and at Westchester, New York, meanwhile study- ing law. In May, 1868, he was admitted to practice at the bar, and then came to this city to engage in the practice of his chosen profession. Here for many years he has ranked among the most dihgent, hard-working, and successful lawyers in the city. He has been connected with many important cases, and has won many signal victories. He joined the Young Men's Republican Club in 1879, and when it was transformed into the RepubUcan Club he remained one of its leading members. He was one of the organizers of the Repubhcan League of the United States, and was actively con- cerned in the first National Convention of Republican Clubs, held in New York in 1887. The next year he helped to make the Republican clubs potent forces in the campaigns. In 1890 he was the leader in the fight for a straight Repubhcan local 363 364 JOHN SABINE SMITH ticket, and tlie next year saw him directing the campaign to make Mr. Fassett, if possible, Governor of the State. His ser- vices to the party in 1892, as chairman of the campaign commit- tee of the RepubUcan Club, were recognized by that club the next year in making him its president. In 1892 he ran for the office of surrogate of the County of New York, and, though de- feated, had the satisfaction of poUing the largest vote ever given for any straight candidate of his party for any office in this city. In 1893 he was president of the RepubUcan County Committee of New York, and the next year was a member of the committee of thirty which reorganized the local Repubhcan party. At this time he prepared plans for the enlargement of the Legislature and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, which were favor- ably acted upon by the State Constitutional Convention. He was the author of the new law regulating piimary elections, which was passed by the Legislature in 1897. For several years he was a member of the Republican State Committee. In 1896-97 he was chairman of the committee on speakers and meetings of the Republican County Committee. Mr. Smith is a member of the City, State, and National Bar associations, of the Repubhcan, University, Lawyers', Church, and other clubs, and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the New England Society, and the Society of Colonial Wars, the Chancel- lor Walworth Masonic Lodge, the Columbian Commandery, and Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine, a member of Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, and a trustee of Trinity College. Mr. Smith was for some time president of the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, also treasurer of the East Side House, a university settlement, from the time of its foundation. He is a member of many other social, charitable, and rehgious organizations. >•» R. A. C. SMITH THE ancient town of Dover, England, was the native place of R. A. C. Smith, who has now become so prominent and forceful a figure in the financial operations of New York and of the island of Cuba. He was bora there on Pebruaiy 22, 1857, and soon thereafter was taken to Spain, where twelve years of his early life were spent. After that he retiu-ned to England and there began to devote himself to study. Three years after his retm-n to England, however, he made a visit to the United States, which changed the whole course of his Hfe. The advantages and opportunities offered in this coun- try so impressed him that he determined to make this country his home. For a number of years Mr. Smith was interested to a consider- able extent in the construction and equipment of raihoads in Cuba. That was while the island was still under Spanish rule. His ventures were pretty uniformly successful, and as a result he accumulated a handsome fortune, as well as ample capital for further operations. In addition to railroad enterprise he had control of the gas and electric lighting system of Havana, con- sohdating into a single corporation the various companies that had originally existed. Finally he undertook the task of com- pleting the waterworks system of the Cuban capital. This was a work that had baffled the enteiprise and skill of one engineer and contractor after another. Mr. Smith took the contract and executed it with entire success. Mr. Smith was for some years manager and vice-president of the gas and electric hghting of both Havana and Matanzas, and was prominently identified with various other enterprises in the island of Cuba. He still retains extensive interests there, 365 366 K. A. C. SMITH is president of the American Indies Company, and is connected with the Spanish-American Light and Power Company. In New York and elsewhere in the United States his business operations are extensive. He is a director of the State Trust Company, and vice-president of the American Surety Company of New York, director and vice-president of the Chicago Union Traction Company, and president of the Connecticut Lighting and Power Company. He consolidated all the gas companies of the city of Rochester, New York, into a single corporation. As an authority concerning that important branch of industry he was made a member of the Committee on Gras at the World's Fair at Chicago. Although he has held no public of&ce, Mr. Smith has long taken an earnest interest in politics, as a Republican. He was promi- nently identified with the Brooklyn Young Republican Club of Brooklyn, New York, before he removed to New York. Mr. Smith is a member of the Union League, Republican, Colonial, Lawyers', Manhattan, New York Yacht, Atlantic Yacht, and Larchmont Yacht clubs, and was formerly a member of the Nereid Boat Club. He owns a number of fine horses, and is much given to the sport of driving, as weU as to other out-of-door diversions. Mr. Smith was married some years ago to Miss Ahce Williams of Brooklyn, daughter of a former sheriff of K i ngs County. FREDERICK SMYTH rpHE office of Recorder of the city of New York is one of the X most varied and important in its dnties of all public places in the metropolitan mumcipahty. The Recorder is not only a judge of the Court of General Sessions, and thus the presiding officer at many of the most important criminal trials, hut also a member of the Sinking Fund Commission and of numerous other municipal and charitable boards. The man who holds such an office is therefore to be regarded as a man of parts and mark, enjoying iii an especial degree the confidence of the community. Among those who have held it in recent years none is better known than the subject of this sketch. Frederick Smyth was born in County Galway, Ireland, in August, 1837, of purely Irish ancestry. His father, Matthew Thomas Smyth, was the head of a well-known county family, and for some time fiUed the important place of Sheriff of County Galway. Misfortune overtook the family, however, and in 1849 young Smyth came to the United States to better his fortunes if possible. He had received an excellent education in Ireland, which served as a good foundation for the legal studies which he began to pursue in New York while he filled the place of an office boy and clerk. His professional career may be said to have begun with a clerkship for Florence McCarthy, judge of the Marine Court, which he fiUed with acceptance and promise. Then he became a clerk under John McKeon, and later an assistant of the latter in the office of United States District Attorney. Meantime, in 1855, Mr. Smyth had been admitted to practice at the bar of New York. When Mr. McKeon retired from the office of United States 367 368 FREDERICK SMYTH District Attorney a reappointment as assistant was offered to Mr. Smyth by Mr. McKeon's successor. This was declined, and Mr. Smyth became instead Mr. McKeon's partner in law practice. This partnership lasted, with mutual satisfaction and profit, un- til 1879 when Mr. Smyth was appointed to the ofl&ce of Recorder. Mr. McKeon soon afterward became District Attorney and thus chief pubHc prosecutor in Mr. Smyth's court. Mr. Smyth was appointed Recorder on December 31, 1879, to fill a vacancy. In 1880 he was elected to the same office to fill a full term of fourteen years. This term expired on December 31, 1894. In 1896 he was elected a justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, which office he still holds. Justice Smyth is a Democrat in pohtics, and is a member of the Democratic, Manhattan, and Lotus clubs. He is married, but has no children. Of his performance of his high duties as Recorder the follow- ing estimate, made by a competent authority, may fittingly be recalled : The integrity, the acuteness, the industry, and the faithfulness which he gives to the performance of his offlcial duties are well known, but fewer persons have an opportunity of knowing some other traits of character which the Recorder shows in private life. As a lawyer he is extremely painstaking, and much of his time out of court is occupied in the reading of law-books. He has examined, in his long practice, a large number of titles to important pieces of property, and discovered not a few imperfections which others have overlooked. His skiU as a cross-examiner is remembered by many an opponent at the bar. His careful- ness in financial matters has been of great value in his position as a member of the Sinking Fund Commission. Every voucher before he signs it is carefully scrutinized, and he signs nothing which has not been audited by officers in whom he has confidence. He has made several important reforms in the work of the Sinking Fund Commission, and has saved thousands of dollars to the city by more exact systems of financiering than those formerly in use. As a friend and in social relations he is loyal, kind, and genial. He relates, with much humor, incidents of his early practice at the bar and experiences since he has been a member of the bench. If he were not unwilling that they should be publicly known, his friends could relate many incidents of his charity to dependants and to those who are ill or in trouble. These private virtues, while less known to the public than his sterner ones, go to make up that remarkably vigorous and many-sided personality known to all New-Yorkers as the Recorder of the city. ELBRIDGE GERRY SNOW AS his name indicates, Elbridge Gerry Snow is of New Eng- J^\- land ancestry. He is a direct descendant of Stephen Hop- kins, who came over in the Mayflower and was one of the signers of the famous Mayflower compact. Stephen Hopkins's daughter Constance married Nicholas Snow, and fi-om them Mr. Snow is descended. On the paternal side, also, the American ancestry includes Thomas Prence, who was born in Lechlade, England, in 1600, and who came hither by way of Leyden to Plymouth, in 1620-21. He founded Eastham, Massachusetts, in 1643, built the first bark in a New England ship-yard, established the Cape Cod fisheries, led a corjis in the Pequod War, and was Governor of the Massachusetts Colony for nineteen years. His daughter Jane married Mark Snow. On the maternal side the first ancestor of note was Sir Nicho- las Woodruff, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1579. His descendant, Mathew Woodruff, came to this country from Devonshire. Jonathan Coe, another maternal ancestor, was a sergeant in the War of the Revolution. In the last generation of the Snow and Woodruff families, El- bridge Gerry Snow, M. D., married Eunice Woodi'uff. They lived at Barkhamsted, Connecticut, and there, on January 22, 1811, their son, Elbridge Geny Snow, was born. In his early life the boy was taken by his parents to Waterbury, Connecticut, where his father practised his profession. He was later sent to the Port Edward Institute, at Fort Edward, New York, and there received a good education. Returning to Waterbury, he studied law for a time, and then became a clerk in the of&ce of a promi- nent local insurance agent. This engagement decided the whole bent of his subsequent career. 36;i 370 ELBKIDGE GEKRT SNOW About 1862, Mr. Snow, having just attained his majority, came to New York city, and obtained employment in the main office of the Home Insurance Company, which was one of the princi- pal companies which his former employer had represented at Waterbury. He remained in the Home Company's office until 1871, in which year he withdrew from it to become interested in an insurance agency. Two years later, however, he returned and was welcomed back to the Home Company's office, and has ever since maintained his connection with it. His capacity for insurance work had already been well proved, and he was therefore deemed fit to fill the responsible place of State agent for Massachusetts. His headquarters were in the city of Boston, where he organized the firm of Holhs & Snow, and imder his capable direction the business of the company in that city and State was greatly increased. For twelve years he held that agency ; then, in 1885, he was recalled to the main office in New York and appointed assistant secretary. This put him in the line of regular promotion. In 1888, accordingly, he was advanced to be second vice-president and a director of the company. This place he continues to fill, with conspicuous suc- cess. He is also connected with the North River Savings Bank and the Metropohtan National Bank, of New York, and with various other important properties. He has held and has sought no political offices, prefeiTing to devote his attention to his busi- ness affairs, and to the fulfilment of the duties of a private citizen. Mr. Snow is a member of various social organizations, among them being the Lotus Club, the Insurance Club, the New Eng- land Society of New York, the New York Geological Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Ai't, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married at Waterbury, Connecticut, on September 5, 1865, to Miss Frances Janet Thompson. One child has been bom to them, a son, who bears the name borne by his father and grandfather, Elbridge Gerry Snow. i GEORGE HENRY SOUTHARD A LARGE share of the greatness of New York, as of much of this nation, is derived from New England sources. Tliis is true in the actual family descent of men and in the perpetuation of the characteristic spirit which has made New England itself great and which insures a measure of greatness wherever it pre- vails. Both these conditions are weD exemplified in the case un- der present consideration. It was on August 1, 1623, that the ship Ann arrived at Plymouth, bearing among her passengers the widow Alice Southworth, who presently became the wife of Governor William Bradford. Five years later came her two sons, Constant and Thomas Southworth, both of whom became distinguished men in the colony, and whose names and those of their descendants frequently adorn the records of Duxbury and Bridgewater. Especially is this true of Constant Southworth, who was a companion and co-worker of Standish, Brewster, Howland, and the other worthies of those days. He was a resident of Duxbury and one of the original proprietors of Bridgewater, county registrar, treasm-er of the colony, and commissary-general in King Philip's War. Thomas South- worth was also eminent for his character and services as a com- missioner of the imited colonies and governor of the colony's territories at Kennebec. Constant South worth's son Nathaniel man-ied Alice Gray in 1672. Their son Edward mamed Bridget Bosworth in 1711. Their eldest son. Constant, married Martha Keith in 1734. Their eldest son, Nathaniel, married Catherine Howard in 1762. Their son Nathaniel married Patience Shaw in 1793 and settled at Lyme, New Hampshire. There theii' son Zibeon Southard was born, the family name having been modified from Southworth. 371 372 GEOKGE HENKY SOUTHABD Zibeon married Helen Maria, daughter of Ebenezer Trescott, and to them was bom, on February 23, 1841, a son, to whom they gave the names of Greorge Henry. George Henry Southard spent his boyhood in Boston, where his father was an oil and candle manufacturer and member of the Legislature. He was educated at the Enghsh High School, graduating in 1856. After working for some years in his father's office, he entered the lumber business with Messrs. James & Pope in 1881. Four years later he removed to Newburg, New York, and was there in the same business. In 1874 he removed to Brook- lyn and founded the lumber firm of Southard & Co., New York. After a successful and honored business career of more than twenty years he became, in 1887, one of the organizers of the National Bank of Deposit, of which he became cashier, and in the next year of the Frankhn Trust Company of Brooklyn, of which he became second vice-president and first secretary. In 1892 he became president of the Franklin Trust Company, and still holds that office. Mr. Southard has long been an earnest member of the Repub- lican party, and an effective worker for good government, though he has accepted no political office. His ability and integrity have made him much sought after as a director of important en- terprises. Thus he was for years a director of the Maritime Ex- change and a member of its finance committee, and is a director of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Wharf and Warehouse Company, and the New York Fire Insurance Company. He was one of the organizers, first secretary, and a director of the New England Society of Newburg, and is a member of the Hamilton Club, Rembrandt Club, Riding and Driving Club, and New England Society of Brooklyn, and of the Union League Club and Down-Town Association of New York. He is also a trustee of the Brooklyn Hospital, a member of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, a member and officer of the First Presbjiierian Church of Brook- lyn, a trustee of the Brooklyn Presbytery, and a director of the Union Theological Seminary of New York. JAMES SPEYER THE name of Speyer, belonging to one of the best-known business houses and to the family which founded it, is said to be taken from the name of that famous town of Speyer, or Spires, as we commonly have it, in the Rhine Palatinate, Germany, which was the scene of the Diet of Spires in Reformation days, and which has otherwise largely figured in history. The present family of Speyer has, however, been for many generations settled at and identified with the still more famous city of Fraukfort- on-Main, which has played so great a part in the politics of Grer- many and in the finances of the world. As early as the fom*- teenth century the family was settled there. One of its members was Michael Speyer, who died in 1586. That the family was one of the foremost of the city was well attested at the close of the last century; for when, in 1792, the French general Custine brought three leading citizens of Frankfort-on-Main to Mayence as hostages to guarantee the payment of a war-tax, one of them was Isaac Michael Speyer, who at that time was the imperial court banker of the old Grerman, or Holy Roman, Empire. The family was, indeed, through many generations, prominently identified with the business and other interests of Frankfort, and of Germany, and was also, as it still remains, conspicuous in that practical philanthropy for which the Hebrew race, to which the family belongs, is so honorably distinguished. Coming down to the present time, Gustavus Speyer was a prominent financier in New York, in the house of Speyer & Co., formerly Philip Speyer & Co., bankers. This house wall be re- membered as one of the foremost supports of American credit dm'ing the Civil War, working with singular effect to place United States bonds with German investors, and to maintain 373 374 JAMES SPEYER the repute of such seciirities abroad. It has also been instru- mental in selling large amounts of American railroad and other securities abroad, notably those of the Central and Southern Pacific railways. It has direct connections with the parent house at Frankfort, and with branches in London and elsewhere. Gustavus Speyer married Miss Sophie Rubin, and to them was bom the subject of this sketch, James Speyer, at their home in this city, in 1861. The boy was educated chiefly at Frankfort- on-Main, and there, at the age of twenty-two, he began practical business life in the banking-house of his fathers. Thence he was in time ti-ansferred to the branches in London and Paris, to com- plete his business education. Finally he came to New York and entered the New York banking-house of Speyer & Co. (formerly Philip Speyer & Co.), of which he is now the head. Mr. Speyer is also a partner in the firms of Speyer Brothers of London, and L. Speyer EDissen of Frankfort-on-Main. Mr. Speyer is a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, and also of the German Savings Bank. In politics he has always been independent, but he was an active member of the executive committee of the Committee of Seventy, and in 1896 he was appointed a member of the Board of Education by Mayor William L. Strong. He served as school commissioner, however, only one year, resigning in 1897. In many of the most intelligent and well-directed philanthropic movements of the city Mr. Speyer has taken a prominent part. He is treasurer of the University Settlement Society, and the Provident Loan Society, of which he was one of the founders, made him its president in 1896. Mr. Speyer is a member of numerous leading clubs and social organizations of the city. In November, 1897, he was married to Mrs. John A. Lowery, a daughter of the late John Dyneley Piince of this city. » JOHN WILLIAM STERLING THE family of Sterling is one of the most ancient and famous ones in the history of the British Isles, where its name has for centimes been home by an important city. The family hne is traced back to Walter de Streverlying of Kier, Scotland, who was bom in 1130, and among whose descendants were numerous knights, barons, and other peers of the realm. In the early part of the seventeenth century, however, one of its members, John Sterling, removed from Scotland to Hertford- shire, England, and established a branch of the family there. He had two sons. Sir John Sterhng and David Sterling, who migrated to the New World. David Sterling came over in 1651, and settled at Charlestown, Massachusetts. He had a son named William Sterhng, who was bom at Charlestown, but on reaching manhood removed to Haverhill, Massachusetts, and thence, in 1703, to Lyme, Connecticut. One of his sons, Jacob Sterhng, in timi removed from Lyme to Stratford, Fairfield Coimty, Connecticut, and there founded the branch of the family from which came the subject of this sketch. On the maternal side Mr. Sterling is descended from John Plant, who came from England about the year 1636, and was one of the early settlers of the town of Branfoi'd, Connecticut. From John Plant was descended David Plant, who was Lieuten- ant-Governor of Connecticut for four years, 1823-27, Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, three times a State Senator, and for one term Representative in Congress. In the last generation Captain John WilMam Sterling of Strat- ford, Connecticut, son of David and Deborah (Strong) Sterling, was a man of high culture and much force of character. He was for many years commander of important ships in the South 375 376 JOHN WILLIAM STEELING American and China trade. He married Miss Catherine Tom- linson Plant, daughter of the David Plant above mentioned. To them was born, at Stratford, Connecticut, in May, 1844, a son to whom the name of his father was given. John Wilham Sterling, the second of the name, was carefully educated in preparation for college at Stratford Academy, an in- stitution of high rank. At the end of his course there he was o-raduated with the rank of valedictorian. He then entered Yale College, where he soon gained eminence as a student and in the social life of the institution. He took one of the much-coveted Townsend prizes, and enjoyed the likewise much-desired distinc- tion of election to Skull and Bones, one of the famous secret societies of the senior class, membership in which is limited to fifteen and is supposed to be the highest social honor in uni- versity hfe. He was also a member of Alpha Delta Phi, one of the foremost of the Greek-letter fraternities. At the end of his course he was chosen a member of the distinguished graduate fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa, and was graduated from Yale with high honors in the class of 1864. The following year he spent in special study of English literature and history under Pro- fessor Noah Porter, who was afterward president of Yale. Mr. Sterling next came to New York city and entered the Law School of Columbia College, where he pursued a brilhant career, and was graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1867. At about the time of his graduation fi'om the law school Mr. Sterling was admitted to practice at the bar of New York. He then entered the employment of the distinguished lawyer, David Dudley Field, being the youngest clerk m his office. In May, 1868, he left Mr. Field to become managing clerk in another office, but in the following December he returned to become, not a clerk, but a partner of Mr. Field, in the firm of Field & Shear- man. This firm pursued a prosperous and distinguished career for a number of years. In September, 1873, however, Mr. Field retired from it, and the firm-name was thereupon changed to that of Shearman & Stei'ling, the senior partner of it being Thomas Gr. Shearman. This firm has been connected with a number of the most famous cases in recent American jurisprudence. It had com- plete charge of the interests of Henry Ward Beecher in the JOHN WILLIAM STERLING 377 litigation brought against him by Theodore Tilton and others, which began in 1874 and lasted two years. The gi"eat trial con- sumed six months, and ended in the defeat of the plaintiffs and their payment of the costs. In 1876, also, Shearman & Sterling were retained as counsel in a number of suits arising out of the famous " Black Friday " in WaU Street in 1869. In recent years Mr. Sterhng has given his attention largely to railroad interests. He has been personally concerned in the formation, foreclosure, and reorganization of various important companies. Among those with which he has Ijeen thus con- nected are the International and Great Northern of Texas, in 1879; the South Carolina Railroad, in 1881; the Columbus, Chicago and Indian Central, the Canadian Pacific, and the Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburg, in 1882 ; the Great Northern, in 1890 ; and the Duluth and Winnipeg, in 1896. He aided in organizing the New York and Texas Land Com- pany in 1880. He is counsel for many trust estates, and for many British corporations and investors. He is vice-president of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, and a director of the National City Bank, the New York Security and Trust Company, the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad Company, the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway Company, and the Bond and Mortgage Guarantee Company. Mr. Sterling is a meml^er of numerous clubs and other organi- zations of the highest class. Among these may be mentioned the Union League, University, Lawyers', Yale, Union, Tuxedo, and Riding clubs, of New York ; the Down-Town Association, the New England Society of New York, the American Fine Arts Society, and the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Delta Phi fi'aternities. He has retained and cultivated, throughout all his busy life, his early love of hterature, and has amassed a fine private library of several thousand volumes, included in which are some rare editions and works of exceptional value. He has also retained a warm interest in the welfare of his Alma Mater. Osborn Hall, at Yale, was the gift of one of his clients, and was built under Mr. Sterling's supervision, at a cost of nearly two hundred thousand dollars. Yale conferred upon him, in 1893, the degree of LL. D. LISPENARD STEWART SCOTCH, Huguenot, and German blood mingle in the veins of the subject of the present sketch. The Stewart family- is Scotch, bearing the name of the last Scottish kings. Lis- penard Stewart is in the seventh generation of direct descent from Charles Stewart of Garth, an officer in the army of WilUam III, who won distinction at the battle of the Boyne. The Lis- penards were French Huguenots, and their first American repre- sentative was Antoine Lispenard, who came hither in 1690. Mr. Stewart is his hneal descendant, in the seventh generation. The father of Mr. Stewart, Lispenard Stewai-t, Sr., married Mary Rogers Rhinelander, a member of a distinguished New York family of German origin. Lispenard Stewart was born at his father's countiy-seat, Brookwood, at Mount St. Vincent, on the Hudson, now in the upper part of this city, on June 19, 1855. He was educated at Anthon's and Charlier's schools, in this city, at a school at Peek- skill, and at Yale, where he was graduated A. B. in 1876. Later he entered the Columbia College Law School, and in 1878 was graduated LL. B. He was admitted to the bar, but soon gave up the practice of the profession in order to act as trustee of several large estates. Mr. Stewart became interested in pohtics, as a Repubhcan, at an early date. For many years he was a member of the New York Republican County Committee, and for some time its treasurer. Nominations for Congress, the Legislature, and the Board of Aldermen were offered to him fi-om time to time, but he did not accept any until 1888. In that year he accepted nomination as a Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket, and, being elected, was made secretary of the New York Elec- 378 LISPENAKD STEWART 379 toral College. The year following he was his party's candidate for State Senator in the Eighth District of this city, and, after a memorable contest, was elected, the only Repubhcan Senator from the city of New York. He proved a valuable legislator, among his achievements being the introduction and passage of the bill creating the Rapid Transit Commission of this city. In 1893 he dechned the treasurership of the National League of Republican Clubs. In that year he was one of the Committee of Thirty to reorganize the local Republican party. In 1894 he was prominently considered in connection with the Mayoralty nomination. In 1895 Governor Morton offered him a place on his staff, and also appointed him a State Commissioner of Prisons to represent the First Judicial District. He was elected by the commission its first president, and still holds this posi- tion for the fourth consecutive term. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1896. Mr. Stewart has often served on important non-pohtical com- mittees, such as that of one hundred leading citizens which escorted the body of Gfeneral Grant from Saratoga to New York ; that on the Columbus Quadiicenteunial Celebration ; that on celebrating the centenary of Washington's first inauguration ; that on the erection of the Washington Arch ; and that on Man- hattan Day at the Chicago Columbian World's Fau-. Mr. Stewart has long been prominent in club and social life. He is a member of the Union League, Union, Metropolitan, Uni- versity, Riding, Down-Town, and Repubhcan clubs, and has been a governor of several of them. He is a trustee of the Real Estate Trust Company, the Grant Monument Association, and the New York Zoological Society, and is on the governing boards of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, the Pi'ison Association, and the Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society for Seamen. He has spent much time in travel in all parts of the world. He is not married. WILLIAM RHINELANDER STEWART THE late Lispenard Stewart was descended from the famous Scotch famil}^ of Stewart, kin to the Stuart sovereigns, and, on the maternal side, fi-om the French Huguenot family of Lis- penard, members of which were prominent in the early history of this city. Mr. Stewart married Miss Mary Rhinelander, a mem- ber of the well-known family of that name, of German origin. WilUam Rhinelander Stewart, son of the foregoing, was born in New York, on December 3, 1852, and was educated at Char- lier's Institute, Anthon's Classical School, and the Law School of Colimibia CoUege. From the last he was graduated in 1873. He was admitted to the bar, and entered the law office of Piatt, Gerard & Buckley. He remained with that firm for several years, meantime carrying on a private business. Being of independent means, Mr. Stewart has been able to devote much time and labor to pubhc interests. He was appointed by the President, in 1880, one of the commissioners for the World's Fair which it was proposed to hold in New York in 1883. In 1881 Governor Cornell made him a member of the committee of fifteen to receive and entertain the delegation of descendants of French officers who fought under Rochambeau and De Grasse in our Revolution. He thus did valuable service in connection with the centenary of the smTender of York- town. In 1882 Governor Cornell appointed Mr. Stewart a com- missioner of the State Board of Charities. By successive reappointments he has served in that capacity ever since. In Feb- ruary, 1894, he was unanimously elected president of the board. It was Mr. Stewart who conceived the idea of commemorating the centenary of the inaugm-ation of Washington as first Presi- dent of the United States by spanning Fifth Avenue, at its 380 ^7-/dSiz^^^. WILLIAM BHINELANDER STEWART 381 iunction with Washington Square, with a triumphal arch. By personal efforts among his friends and neighbors, he secui-ed the erection of the temporary arch in AprU, 1889, without expense to the city. The arch was deemed the finest decorative feature of the pageant, and a demand arose for its perpetuation m per- manent marble. A committee for the purpose was formed, with Mr. Stewart as treasurer. Largely through his personal efforts the work was successfully completed. The last stone was laid on April 30, 1892, by Mr. Stewart, and on May 4, 1895, m behalt of the committee, he f ormaUy presented the structure to the city, with impressive ceremonies. The arch had cost one hundred and twenty-eight thousand doUars, all of which was contributed fi'om private funds. ,, t, • 4. • Mr Stewart joined Company K of the Seventh Regiment m 1871 and served with credit for nearly eight years. He has lon<^'been a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for ''eight years was superintendent of the great mission Sunday- sohool of Grace Chapel, with over a thousand pupils. He is a vestryman and treasurer of Grace Church, a trustee of the Greenwich Savings Bank, and a director of the Corn Exchange Bank. In 1898 he was president of the Twenty-fifth National Conference of Charities and Correction, in this city, and made a notable address on " The Duty of the State to the Dependent and Erring." In politics Mr. Stewart was a Repubhcan until 1883, since which time he has been independent of party hues. He has been much interested in the reform of municipal ad- ministration, and was a member of the Committee of Seventy m 1894, and of the Committee of Fifty in 1895. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Anne M. Armstrong of Bal- timore. Of their three children, two, a son and a daughter, survive He belongs to many clubs, including the Century, Metropohtan, Union, Tuxedo, and Down-Town, of which latter he is secretary. g^ JAMES STILLMAN JAMES STILLMAN was born on June 9, 1850, the son of Charles Stillman and Ehzabeth Goodrich Stillman, who were both natives of Connecticut, where their Enghsh ancestors settled about the middle of the seventeenth century. His early education was at Hartford, Connecticut, where his parents then resided, and afterward at the Churchill School at Sing Sing, New York. At the age of eighteen he became a clerk in the office of Smith, Woodward & Stillman, cotton merchants of New York, in which firm his father had long been interested. Within two years he was admitted to full partnership in the reorganized firm of Woodward & Stillman. Since the death of Mr. Woodward, in 1899, Mr. Stillman has been at the head of the firm. Its credit has always been of the highest, and its capital far in excess of the requu'ements of its large business. The relations formerly existing between this fii-m and the City Bank of New York brought Mr. Stillman into close rela- tions with Moses Taylor, the great merchant and president of that bank. On the death of Mr. Taylor, in 1882, his son-in-law, Percy R. Pyne, was elected president of the bank, then known as the National City Bank. Upon his retirement, in 1891, Mr. Stillman, then the youngest member of the board of directors of that bank, was elected and has ever since continued its presi- dent. When he assumed the* presidency of the bank, its capital was $1,000,000, its surplus about $2,412,000, and its average deposits were about $12,000,000. In the early part of 1900, $9,000,000 of new capital was subscribed to the bank, thus mak- ing its capital stock $10,000,000, and its surplus was over $5,000,- 000. Its average deposits had been increased to about $120,000,- 000. This bank is to-day beyond question the greatest in the 382 JAMES STILLMAN 383 United States, and bids fair to become the great financial com- petitor of the Bank of England in controlling large aggregations of capital for the pm-pose of carrjdng on the great enterprises of the world. During the last year, the transactions in foreign exchange, for which Mr. Stillman has created a special depart- ment in his bank, have involved the active employment of more money than is used by the Bank of England, and, in fact, by any bank in the world. This bank has not only kept on hand a large amount of cash in excess of its legal reserve, but kept almost the whole of it in actual gold or gold certificates. It has thus been enabled at various times to subscribe to a larger portion of government loans than any other bank or syndicate of bankers in the coun- try, and actually to pay for its subscriptions in the yellow metal. It has also been able to give the necessary security for deposits from the United States government to very large amounts. Thus in November, 1897, when the government, in making a settlement of the debt due it from the Union Pacific Raih'oad Company, decided to deposit the amount in New York banks and thus get it into circulation, IMr. Stillman promptly deposited with the Treasury Department $50,000,000 of United States bonds and securities, and thus gained for the City Bank the privilege and prestige of being designated as chief depositary and distributing agent for the millions thus paid over. A similar instance, though not quite to the same extent, occuiTcd in De- cember, 1899, upon the temporary diversion of the internal revenue receipts from the Sub-Treasury to the banks. Mr. Stillman is also president of the Second National Bank, and one of the leading dii^ectors of the Hanover National Bank and the Bank of the Metropolis. He is a trustee and member of the executive committee of the United States Trust Company, the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, and the New York Security and Trust Company; and a director of the Central Realty Bond and Trust Company, of the American Surety Com- pany, the Bowery Savings Bank, and the Fifth Avenue Safe Deposit Company. He is a director of the Union Pacific, Northern Pacific, Baltimore and Ohio, Chicago and Northwest- em, and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and other leading railroads. He has been a member of numerous syndicates, one 384 JAMES STILLMAN of the latest of which was the Harriman Syndicate, which pur- chased the Chicago and Alton Raih'oad. He is largely inter- ested in the ConsoUdated Gas Company of New York, of which he has been a trustee for many years, and has recently been one of the most important factors in bringing about a combination of all the gas and electric light interests in the city of New York. He is also a director of the Western Union Telegraph Company. With all his varied interests, he has always contrived to find leisure for outdoor recreation. Since 1874 he has been a mem- ber of the New York Yacht Club, and his victorious sails have brought him many trophies. He has also taken great interest in farming and cattle-breeding, and has on his large estate at Cornwall-on-Hudson one of the finest herds of Jerseys in the United States. He was one of the founders and is still an active member of the organization known as the " New York Farmers." He depends for healthful exercise upon his bicycle. He is a great reader and much devoted to art and music, and is a skilled amateur photographer. His winter residence is at No. 7 East Fortieth Street, New York city, and his family divide their time in summer between his beautiful residences at Newport and Cornwall-on-Hudson. Among the many clubs of which he is a member are the Union, Union League, Metropolitan, Reform, Lawyers', Century, and the Turf and Field. He is also a meinber of the Tuxedo Club and of the Washington Metropolitan Club. His private charities are numerous and varied. His latest act of public generosity consists of the gift of a hundred thousand dollai^s to Harvard University for the erection of an infirmary for students, and an endowment for defraying the ex- penses of its maintenance. GAGE ELI TARBELL THE career of Gage E. Tarbell is a striking example of the success that is bound to follow real merit and intelligent and well-directed energy. To these qualities and the exercise of them has been due every advancement achieved in all his honorable and brilliant progress in business life. He comes of good New England stock. His father, Charles T. Tarbell, was a farmer and lumberman. His mother's maiden name was Mabel M. Tillotson. He was bom on September 20, 1856, at Smithville Flats, among the hills of Chenango County, New York, and received his education at the local school and at the Clinton Liberal Institute. His boyhood was spent on the farm and in the woods where lumber was being cut for market. For one year he taught a district school. Then he studied law three years, and practised it for four years. Finally he entered the business of life-insurance, with which he has ever since been associated, and in which he has attained honored prominence and marked success. Mr. Tarbell was admitted to the bar of New York in 1880, and practised law in this State for four years. In connection with that profession, he also became a solicitor for the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and developed such aptitude for that busi- ness that, in 1884, he turned his entire attention to it, becoming in that year manager of the Southern New York Department. For two years his headquarters were at Binghamton, New York. Then, in 1886, he was made general agent for Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, with offices at Milwaukee. His power as a manager of men and a writer of insurance was soon felt in the West, and in 1889 he received a partnership interest in the Northwestern Department of the society, with headquarters at 385 386 GAGE ELI TAEBELL Chicago. The agency of which he then took charge soon be- came, under his skilful management, one of the largest in the coimtry, and the volume of business which he, personally and through his agents, secured for the Equitable has probably never been surpassed, if equaled, in the history of life-insur- ance. In fact, only seven or eight life-insurance companies transacted in all the country a larger amount of business than this one agency of this one company did under Mr. Tarbell's management. Henry B. Hyde, then president of the Equitable, was noted for his discrimination in his choice of lieutenants and associates, and achieved his great success largely through the exercise of this invaluable talent. He was not slow in discovering the value of Mr. Tarbell's services to the company, and early marked him as one of the " coming men " of the great corporation. At length he concluded that Mr. Tarbell's abilities would be exer- cised to greater advantage in New York than in a Western city, and in the home office than in a mere agency. Accordingly he summoned him to New York, and in September, 1893, secui'ed his election as third vice-president of the Equitable. Since the latter date Mr. Tarbell has had charge of the entire agency force of the society. The ability he has shown in this position is in accordance with his former achievements, and forms a brilhant chapter in the history of the corporation. As an evidence of the way in which his work has been appreciated by his associates, he was advanced in May, 1899, to the place of second vice-president, which office he still holds. Mr. Tarbell's absorption in life-insurance has precluded his participation in any other businesses, or in political activities. He is a popular member of numerous social organizations, among which are the Union League Club, the Colonial Club, the Law- yers' Club, the New York Athletic Club, the Atlantic Yacht Club, the Ardsley Club, the Marine and Field Club, and the Dyker Meadow Golf Club. Mr. Tarbell was married at Marathon, New York, on December 21, 1881, to Miss Ella Swift, daughter of George L. Swift. They have two children, Swift Tarbell and Louise TarbeU. FRANK TILFORD TAILLEFER, the old Normans called the family name, and you wiD find it often in the early annals of that masterful race. The ancient Counts of Angouleme were the founders of the family, as is witnessed by the illustration of the surname in their heraldic devices for many generations. One of the first- known members of the family received great possessions from the hand of Charles the Bald of France, in return for his ser- vices in uniting Normandy with France, and his son, Guillaume de Taillefer, was the first to bear this name, which came to him because of an act of valor and extraordinary strength performed by him in war in the year 916. From him the family line and the name may be traced without a break down to the present day. Tilford the name became in Scotland, when some of the family settled in that country, and TiKord it has remained in this country ever since it was brought hither by James Tilford, who settled at Argyle, near Albany, New York, a hundred and fifty years ago. That pioneer was a soldier in the American army throughout the Revolutionary War, and his son, James Tilford, was a captain in the War of 1812. The latter's son, John M. Tilford, came to New York in 1835, at the age of twenty years, and served five years as a clerk in the grocery store of Benjamin Albro. Then, with his fellow-clerk, Joseph Park, he organized the now world-famous grocery house of Park & Tilford. Frank Tilford, the youngest son and business successor of John M. Tilford, was born in New York on July 22, 1852, and was educated in the then well-known Mount Washington Col- legiate Institute. Then he entered his father's store, at Sixth 387 383 FRANK TILFOBD Avenue and Ninth Street, and worked faithfully in one depart- ment after another until he had acquired a practical mastery of all the details of the business. In 1890 the company was trans- formed into a joint-stock corporation, and the senior Mr. Tilford became its \T.ce-president. At his death, in January, 1891, Mr. Frank Tihord succeeded him in that office, and has continued to hold it ever since. Important as that office is, it does not monopohze Mr. Tilford's business attention. He has been a member of the Real Estate Exchange since 1873, and has made some extensive deahngs in real estate, chiefly of an investment character, in the upper West Side of the city. He became a director of the Sixth National Bank in 1874, and a trustee of the North River Savings Bank in 1885. In 1889 he was one of the organizers of the Bank of New Amsterdam, of which he is now president, and he is also one of the organizers and a trustee of the Fifth Avenue Trust Company, vice-president of the Stan- dard Gras-Light Company, and a director in many of the powerful corporations of New York city and in many of the gas compa- nies throughout the country. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, president of the New Amsterdam Eye and Ear Hospital, a trustee of the Babies' Hospital, and a member of the executive committee of the Grant Monument Association. Mr. Tilford was married, in 1881, to Miss Juha Grreer, daughter of James A. Greer and granddaughter of George Greer, a famous sugar-refiner of the past generation. They have two daughters, Julia and Elsie Tilford. Mr. Tilford has long been a member of the Union League Club, and is also a member of the Repub- hcan, Colonial, Lotos, Press, New York Athletic, and other clubs, and of the Sons of the Revolution. His city home is on West Seventy-second Street. It was chiefly designed by Mr. Tilford himself, and ranks as one of the handsomest edifices in that particularly handsome part of the city. CHARLES WHITNEY TILLINGHAST AN admirable specimen of the intelligeBt, enterprising, and J-A. efficient New England stock of British origin, which has not only built up the New England States to their present mag- nificent proportions, but has also contributed immeasurably to the best development of New York and other States of this Union, is to be found in Charles Whitney Tillinghast of Troy, New York. He bears the names, which have come to him through descent, of two families noted in the annals of Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, and Providence plantations. The fami- lies came from England in early colonial times, and were active in the industrial, political, and social affairs of the new com- munities of which they became members. In the last generation the Tillinghast family was represented by Benjamin Allen Til- linghast, who was born at Wrentham, Massachusetts, and afterward hved at Greenwich, Rhode Island. In the same generation of the Whitney family was Miss Julia Whitney, daughter of Moses Whitney of Wrentham, Massachusetts, a major in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Allen Tillinghast and Juha Whitney were married, and to them was born the sub- ject of this sketch. Charles W. Tillinghast was born at East Creenwich, Rhode Island, on May 23, 1824, and received his education there and at Lanesboro, Massachusetts. His parents having removed to Troy, New York, he became a resident of that city at the end of his school-days, and entered business there. He was only sixteen years old when, in 1840, he became a clerk in the hardware store of Warrens, Hart & Leslie, afterward J. M. Warren & Co. There he remained, applying himself diligently to the business, and steadily working his way, by sheer merit, to 889 390 CHAKLES WHITNEY TILLINGHAST higher and higher places in the establishment. Forty-seven years after his entry into the establishment, to wit, in 1887, the firm was transformed into a corporation, and he was chosen its vice-president, which place he held for some years, and then was made president. Thus, for nearly sixty years, he has been iden- tified with one business house, in which time he has made his way from the lowest place in it to the highest. That, however, is not the full measm*e of his activities. He has other important business interests. He is vice-president of the Troy Savings Bank, a director of the United National Bank, and a director of various railroad and manufacturing companies at Troy and elsewhere. He is president of the Troy Orphan Asylimi, the Troy Female Seminary, and trustee of the Marshall Infirmary and several other public institutions. He was the prime mover in securing the Post-office Building at Troy, and has long been a leader in most important public enterprises in that city. One of its most highly respected citizens, he is closely identified with its best civic, social, financial, and political interests. Mr. Tillinghast has for many years taken an active interest in pohtics. He is an earnest Republican, and has worked unspar- ingly for the success of that party and for the promotion of the cause of good government in city. State, and nation. He has held no pubhc office of a political character, although frequently urged to do so. He has preferred to use his influence as a pri- vate citizen, as a broad-minded, liberal man of affairs, of genial disposition and the highest integrity. He is an active member and warden of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church at Troy, and is a member of the Troy Club. He was married, in 1852, to Miss Mary B. Southwick of Troy, and has one daughter, Frances, who is now Mrs. Barker. CHARLES HARRISON TWEED DESPITE the absence of any law of primogeniture or any system of hereditary dignities, political or social, the claims of honorable descent are by no means to be ignored in this coun- try. To be a worthy descendant of worthy ancestors is a matter of legitimate personal gratification. To be able to number among one's direct ancestors some of the foremost founders of this na- tion is a circumstance not idly to be passed by in the record of a man's life. The names of Winthrop, Dudley, and Sargent, for example, are to be prized in the genealogical hue of any one who can truly claim them. The ancestry of Charles Harrison Tweed includes Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Grovernor John Winthrop, Jr., of Connecticut, and Governor Thomas Dudley and Governor Joseph Dudley of Massachusetts Bay Colony, those families having been united by the marriage, in 1707, of John Winthrop, F. R. S., grandson of Governor Winthrop of Connecticut, with Ann Dudley, daughter of Governor Joseph Dudley. The daughter of this latter couple married Epes Sargent, and was the mother of Colonel Paul Dudley Sargent of the Revolutionary army. The father of Charles Harrison Tweed was the Hon. Harrison Tweed, treasm-er of the Taunton (Massachusetts) Locomotive Manufacturing Company, Repre- sentative and Senator in the Massachusetts Legislature, and a member of the Governor's Council. He married Huldah Ann Pond, and to them was born during their temporary residence at Calais, Maine, on September 26, 1844, the subject of this sketch. His boyhood was spent at his father's home, at Taunton, Mas- sachusetts, where he attended school. He was fitted for college at Bristol Academy, and imder the private tutorship of Dr. Henry B. Wheelright of Harvard. He entered Harvard in 1861, and 391 392 CHARLES HABRISON TWEED was graduated in 1865 at the head of his class. Then he took up the study of law, at fii'st under the Hon. Edmund H. Bennett, who was afterward dean of the Law School of Boston University, and then in the Harvard Law School. Having completed his law studies, Mr. Tweed came to New York, where he was admitted to practice at the bar in 1868, and began work. His first engagement was in the oflB.ce of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate. He was in its employ for a few years, and on January 1, 1874, became a member of that distinguished firm. That connection was maintained until January 1, 1883, when he withdrew from it to become general counsel for the Central Pacific Raih'oad Company, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company, and associated corporations. Afterward, upon its organization, he became counsel for the Southern Pacific Company, and he is now the counsel for that company and for the various alhed and acquired corporations which compose its giant railway system ; for the Central Pacific Railroad Company ; for the Mexican International Railroad Company ; for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company ; and for various other corporations. The performance of the duties connected with these engage- ments is sufficient to monopolize the major part of any man's attention, even of so diligent and competent a practitioner as Mr. Tweed. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that he has re- frained from participation in poHtical matters, save as a private citizen, and has never sought nor accepted pubhc office. Mr. Tweed is a member of numerous social organizations. In college at Harvard he belonged to the Institute of 1770, the Nat- ural History Society, the Hasty Pudding Club, and Phi Beta Kappa. Afterward he was a member of the Somerset Club and the Eastern Yacht Club in Boston. In New York city he is a member of the Century Association, the Metropolitan, University, Harvard, Players', Riding, Down-Town, Corinthian Yacht, and Seawanhaka-Corintliian Yacht clubs. He belongs also to the Royal Clyde Yacht Club of Glasgow, Scotland. He was married, at Windsor, Vermont, on October 27, 1881, to Miss Helen Minerva Evarts, daughter of the Hon. WLUiam M. Evarts, formerly Secretary of State of the United States. They have four children : Helen, Harrison, Katharine "Winthrop, and Mary Winthrop. C -ild^^ AaxM^L CORNELIUS VANDERBILT THE name of Vanderbilt, which has long been associated with ideas of great wealth, stanch patriotism, generous phi- lanthropy, social leadership, and generally admu-able citizenship in the repubhc, is evidently of Holland Dutch origin. The family that bears it, however, has been for many generations settled in this country, and perfectly "Americanized" in the truest senses of the term. The family first arose into national prominence in the middle of the nineteenth century. Its head at that time was Cornelius Vanderbilt of Staten Island, best known as Commodore Vanderbilt. Beginning as a farmer at New Dorp, Staten Island, New York, he presently became interested in steamboats on the Hudson River and elsewhere, and then in the New York and Harlem and the New York Central and Hud- son River raih-oads. At the time of his retirement fi-om busi- ness he was one of the richest men in the country, and the ISead of one of the greatest railroad systems in the world. Commodore Vanderbilt was succeeded, as the head of his great enterprises, by his son, WiUiam H. Vanderbilt. The latter con- tinued the policies established by his father, and greatly extended the Vanderbilt influence in the railroad world, and increased the size of the Vanderbilt fortune. He married Miss Kissam, daughter of a leading New York banker, in whose banking house IVIi". Vanderbilt had been for a time employed. Commodore Vanderbilt had made the name of the family synonymous with wealth, and had won for it an enviable reputation for patriotism by his fine support of the government in the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt first gave it high social leadership in New York city. They built the famous brownstone " Vander- 393 39-i CORNELIUS VANDEBBILT bilt houses " on Fifth Avenue, which for years were one of the wonders of the city, and were afterward sui-passed only by houses built by later members of the same family. Wilham H. Vanderbilt died in December, 1885, leaving four sons and four daughters. His successor as the head of the family and the head of the great railroad and other interests of the family was his eldest son, Cornelius Vanderbilt. The lat- ter proved a most able business man, and materially added to the wealth of the family. He also identified himself with many rehgious, educational, and philanthropic works. He was a valued promoter of the Young Men's Christian Association movement. His gifts of buildings and endowments to Yale and other colleges, and to hospitals and churches, aggregated milHons of dollars. He built at Fifth Avenue and Forty-seventh Street, New York, one of the most splendid private residences in the world, and at Newport one of the most sumptuous of summer homes. He married Miss Ahce Grwynne, daughter of a well-known lawyer of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the second of the name, died on September 12, 1899, leaving five children. His first chDd, William H. Vanderbilt, had died while in his junior year at Yale. The second was Cornelius, third of the name, the subject of this sketch. The others, in order, were Gertrude, now the wife of Hem-y P. Whitney of New York, Alfred Gwynne, who was gradu- ated at Yale in 1899, Reginald C, and Gladys M. Vanderbilt. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the third in direct line to bear that honored name, was bom in New York city on September 5, 1873, He was educated at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and at Yale University. His rank as a scholar was high, and he was popular and influential in the social Ufe of the university. In his junior year he was treasurer and secretary of the St. Paul's Club, composed of former students at St. Paul's School, and in his senior year he was a member of the Scroll and Key Society. In 1895 he was graduated with the degree of B. A. Afterward, having a decided bent for scientific and mechanical pursuits, he studied at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale, and there received, in 1898, the degree of Ph. B., and in 1899 that of M. E. (Mechanical Engineer), It was only natural, in view of the history of his family for three generations before him, that Mr. Vanderbilt should develop 'ill 'M CORNELIUS VANDERBILT 395 a strong practical interest in railroads. While he was in the Sheffield Scientific School he made raiboad locomotives a special study, and came to the conclusion that there was room for further improvement in the construction of such engines, es- pecially in respect to the fire-box. Upon leaving the institution, he decided to put his theories into actual practice. He therefore secured an engagement in the service of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, the great corporation with which his family had for three generations been identified. He at first worked as a draftsman in the office of the superin- tendent of motive power and rolUng stock, and there perfected his plans for a new engine. Then he was transferred to the car and engine shops at Albany, and personally worked at the con- struction of the locomotive. When completed, the engine was put to several severe trials, and then into regular work on the Mohawk division of the road, and proved entirely successful. Mr. Vanderbilt also designed some improvements in tugboats, and other mechanisms, and has served the railroad company efficiently in a variety of directions. Mr. Vanderbilt is a member of several prominent professional and social organizations, but has devoted his time and attention more to business than to mere diversions. He is a member of the Knickerbocker Club, the Metropolitan Club, the New York Yacht Club, and the Seawauhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Engineers' Club of New York. He was married, on August 3, 1896, to Miss Grace Wilson, the ceremony taking place at the residence of the bride's father, in New York city. Mrs. Vanderbilt is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Wilson, who came to New York many years ago from the South, and have been prominent members of the best society. Another of their daughters is Mrs. Ogden Goelet of New York, and a third is Mrs. M. H. Herbert of England, and one of their sons married Miss Carrie Astor of New York. Rich- ard T. Wilson is the head of the firm of R. T. Wilson & Co., bankers of New York, one of the foremost financial houses in the city. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt make their home in New York. They have two childi-en : Comehus, born on April 30, 1898, and Grace, bom on September 25, 1899. ALFRED VAN SANTVOORD THE Empire State of New York wears its title by various rights. It is foremost in population, in wealth, in indus- try, and in business generally among its fellow-commonwealths of the Union. But perhaps in no respect is its imperial rank more strongly and vitally marked than in that of commerce. This apphes to both domestic and foreign trade. For many years about two thirds of all the exports and imports of the whole nation passed through the single port of New York. To- day the proportion of exports has fallen off to one half of the whole, or a little less, but the proportion of imports is still main- tained. New York is thus not only the foremost port of the United States, but it has a greater commerce than all other ports put together. Intimately connected with this foreign trade, and indeed largely the cause of it, is the enormous inland trade of New York, by way of the great highways of trafl&c that cross the State. New York has the supreme advantage over all other States of fronting upon both the Atlantic Ocean and the Grreat Lakes, and of hav- ing a splendid harbor on each. Another unrivaled advantage is found in the Hudson River, broad, deep, and commodious for commerce, opening a great highway from the ocean far up into the heart of the continent, and thence, by means of its natural and artificial tributaries, connecting with the inland seas which wash the shores of the richest Western States. It has long been a truism that the Erie Canal and the Hudson River were the sources of New York city's gi-eatness. That means they were the sources of the commercial greatness of the State, and, we may confidently add, of the United States. And the men who opened up that great highway of trade were the commercial pioneers and f oimders and builders of the present greatness of the 396 Cv,^^-\