USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 21
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Martin Wagner is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has been for years a liberal contributor. In political sentiment he is a close adherent to the principles of the Democratic party, and labors earnestly for the success of his party. Ile was trustee of schools, and for years served as passmaster of his town. Ile has a pleasant, comfortable home, and his labors upon the farm display a work of regularity and neatness. Duty has been the pole star of life with him, and the path wherein duty lies has always been the path which his eager feet have sought to tread. His scientific education in practical and successful farming in Lancaster county, the garden county of Pennsylvania, has been invaluable to him here in his varied farming operations in this county, where his house,
barn, and outside buildings arrest the eye and attention of the traveler by their neat- ness in appearance and by their thorough- ness in construction.
H ARRY G. CORNELL, proprietor of "The American " hotel at Lewiston, and an energetic and popular young business mian of that village, is a son of Hiram B. and Isabella C. (Perry) Cornell, and was born at Lewiston, Niagara county, New York, Sep- tember 12, 1864, in the house where he now resides. Nelson Cornell (grandfather ) was a native of Canada, and was among the very first settlers in Lewiston. During the active part of his life he was the leading business man of this section, and was known all over the State. He built the hotel now conducted by his grandson, the subject of this sketch, was a large merchant, and a thorough busi- ness man. He erected many of the houses still standing in the village of Lewiston. He was a democrat in politics, and married Mary Ann Trafford, of England, who still survives hin, and by whom he had a family of three children. He died in 1872, aged sixty years. Hiram B. Cornell (father) was born in Lewiston, and died here in 1874, at the early age of thirty-five years. He also was a democrat in political sentiment, and a hotel-keeper by occupation. He managed the hotel now conducted by Harry G. Cor- nell -" The American." He was a man very fond of horses, warm-hearted, and generous. He married Isabella C. Perry, and to them was born one child, Harry G. Mrs. Cornell was a native of Canada, and now resides with her son, Harry G., in the forty-eighth year of her age.
Harry G. Cornell was reared in Lewiston, and received his early training in the public
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schools of that village. Ile afterward at- tended the Roy's academy, at Washington, D. C., and spent three years in Whitelock's academy, at Wilton, Connecticut. Some time after completing his academic educa- tion, when only seventeen years of age, he engaged in railroading as a conductor on freight and passenger trains running on the Canadian Pacific railroad. He became a trusted employee of this road, and re- mained in its service nine years. At the end of that time he assumed charge of the American hotel at Lewiston, and has since given his time and attention to this busi- ness, in which he has been very successful. The American is located near the Niagara river, and is a popular resort for sight- seers and the general public.
On June 26, 1889, Mr. Cornell was united in marriage with Laura Vaughn, a daughter of Hiram Vaughn, of Lewiston, and to them has been born one child, a daughter, named Evelyn.
In politics Mr. Cornell is a stanch repub- liean, giving the party of his choice a steady support on all National and State issues. He is very popular among his friends and acquaintances, and is regarded as among the most promising young business men of the village of Lewiston.
CONRAD J. WINTER, of North Ton-
awanda. is the son of George and Catharine (Meyer) Winter, and was born in the city of Buffalo, May 9, 1847. His father, George Winter, was a native of Bavaria, Germany, who came to the United States in the year of 1842, located in the city of Buffalo, and remained in that city until the year of 1849, when he moved to this county and located in the town of
Wheatfield, where he engaged in farming to the time of his decease, in the year of 1869, when in the sixty-third year of his age. lle was a devoted member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and a Jeffer- sonian democrat. The subject of civil and religious liberty was then being greatly discussed, and those who left the old world on account of its oppression, and sought liberty and freedom in the new, usually became democrats, for in the controversy which had arisen over the adoption of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution, the democracy waged savage warfare for freedom, and it usually won the new citizens to its party fold. He held the office of overseer of the poor one term, in the town of Wheatfield. The mother of Conrad J. was also a native of Bavaria, Germany, and now resides with her children, in her sixty- sixth year, and is a consistent and devoted member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, the principles of which she imbibed in Ger- many, where her carly life was spent, and where the church was strong in its mem- bership of the people who were opposed to the Vatican, and followed the religious re- forms introduced in the great reformation.
Conrad J. Winter spent the major part of his early years in the town of Wheatfield. where he received a good common school education, that qualified him for any ordinary business, and after leaving school, he embarked in the butchering business, first as an apprentice, and, in 1877, em- barked in the business on his own account, in North Tonawanda. and continued suc- cessfully for eleven years in that branch of business, accumulating some money, whereby he was enabled to embark in hotel-keeping. in the year 1876, in North Tonawanda, and finding it a herative business, he has con-
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
tinued it from that time until now. Hc carried on both hotel-keeping and butcher- ing until 1888, at which time he closed out the meat furnishing business, and devoted all his time to his hotel.
He was united in marriage with Maria, daughter of William Wegener, of Prussia, Germany, in 1868. He thought so well of his father's countrymen that he went baek to the country from which his father had come to find a life partner, and this faet is complimentary to both the lady and the country. The German Empire is stronger and better to-day than ever in the history of the world; there is more regard for civil and religious liberty now than at any pre- vious period ; as a people they have culti- vated unity of raee and government, and it is not their policy to mix blood, except they have relaxed the rules as regards Ameriea. This unification has placed Germany in the foremost rank of European countries, and they are now proud of their mother country. This union has been blessed with seven children, two sons and five daughters, and they have given them plain, sensible names : Emma, Henry, Benjamin, Hermina, Ida, Josephine, and Marietta. Mr. Winter be- longs, as did his father and mother, to the Evangelical Lutheran church. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Knights of Maccabees, and also a German lodge, known as the D. O. H. Mr. Winter is a democrat, and be- lieves in majority rule, in low taxation, and tariff reform -a tariff that will supply the necessities of government, but not acenmu- late vast sunis simply to squander it. He believes in an honest election and home rule, and is against all sumptuary legisla- tion. He has been frequently complimented by the citizens of his distriet, and has served
six terms as colleetor of Wheatfield, and five terms as collector of the village of North Tonawanda, and is now city treasurer, hav- ing been elected to this offiee in March, 1891. It is evident that the subject of this sketch is favorably known and highly ap- preciated by his neighbors. His record is that of a snceessful and well-to-do business man, who prizes personal liberty highly, and is willing to defend it when necessary, and whose general character is of such a high type that his neighbors delight to testify their appreciation by official trusts and honorable esteen.
C LIVER P. SCOVELL, a prominent eitizen of Lewiston, was born Marelı 24, 1820, at Orwell, Vermont, and is a son of Josiah B. and Annic (Saxe) Scovell. The family is of English descent, being founded in Ameriea by Thomas Scovell, great-grand- father of Oliver P. ITis son Thomas (grand- father ) was born in Connecticut, and died at Orwell, Vermont, aged sixty-nine. Jo- sialı B. Seovell (father) was born in New Hampshire, removed to Vermont when ten years of age, and from that State to Niagara county, New York, in 1836. He died in 1855, aged seventy-two. He was a whig and free-soil demoerat, a member of the Congregational church, and married Annie Saxe, who died in 1858, in her seventy-third year.
Oliver P. Seovell was reared on the farm, at twenty-two engaged in mereantile pur- suits, and is now a notary public and insur- ance agent at Lewiston. He is radical in his views, and has been an abolitionist, re- publican, and prohibitionist. In 1860 he was elected to the State assembly, and for a quarter of a century has been eommis-
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sioner of the school funds of Lewiston. He has served as president of the village and chairman of the school trustees, and is a member, trustee, and clerk of the Presby- terian church. During the war he was dep- uty provost marshal, and served as deputy collector of customs three years. He mar- ried Elizabeth E. Shepard, who died in 1854, and then wedded Elizabeth Jewett, by whom he had five children, only two of whom sur- vive : Philo J. and Josiah B.
AUREN W. PETTEBONE. No more conspicuous figure can be found in bus- iness and social circles of Niagara Falls than Lauren W. Pettebone, whose name we find connected with many business enter- prises, and whose genealogy runs far beyond the memory of man, for the entry of the family into this new country was about the middle of the seventeenth century, when his ancestors landed in New England, and they have been identified with this country from its colonial days until the present, when it can be truthfully said to be the greatest free republic ever established by man. He is the son of Stoughton and Cornelia Davis (Bellamy) Pettebone, and was born June 29, 1848, at Lockport, Niagara county, New York. Noah Pettebone (great-grandfather) was born in Connecticut, his parents having come from England to that State about 1665, and from thence to Pennsylvania. Oliver Pettebone (grandfather), a native of the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, served in the Revolutionary war, and his name appears on the rolls as Oliver Pettebon, but the correct English name is Pettebone. Sev- eral of the brothers of Oliver Pettebone were also in the Revolutionary war, and were killed in the Wyoming massacre. It
is highly probable that more than Noah Pettebone or his descendants came to Penn- sylvania, as the settlement in and around Wyoming was quite large, and they were truly pioneers, both in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. They chiefly engaged in farming, as in those days there was little else beside clearing the virgin forest. Oliver Pettebone was married to Martha Paine, sister of Robert Trent Paine and Tom Paine, and from this union reared a large family. Stoughton Pettebone (father) was born in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1812, reared on the old homestead in Wy- oming, Pennsylvania, where he received an ordinary education, and when quite young went to New York city, where he became a clerk in a large importing house. He remained there until 1837, when shortly after the opening of the Erie canal, Wash- ington Hunt, afterwards governor of New York, went to New York city to search for an active business man to engage in business with him. He became acquainted with Mr. Pettebone, with whom he formed a partner- ship, and engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Lockport. They carried on this business until 1854, at which time Mr. Pette- bone sold out all his interests at Lockport and bought an interest in the Niagara Falls Paper Manufacturing Company, then located on Bath Island. He at once moved to Buf- falo and took charge of the business office at that place until 1856, when he came to Niagara Falls and assumed management of the mills at this point, where he continued until he withdrew, in 1883, to form the Pettebone Paper Manufacturing Company, a stock company, the stock all being held by members of the family. He became its pres- ident after its organization, and remained as such until his death, September 1, 1888.
L. H. Dettelaner
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
He was president, secretary and treasurer of the Niagara Falls Gas Light Company for a number of years, of which he was one of the promoters and organizers, was also one of the organizers and president of the Niagara Falls Water Works Company, and one of the organizers and first president of the Cataract bank of Niagara Falls. He was personally acquainted with Horace Greeley, and in the Greeley presidential eontest sup- ported him, and was an clector on the State tieket. He was a whig and republican, took a deep interest and active part in party affairs, and served as an elector at other eleetions. He first married a Miss Dunning, and had one child, Emma C., dead. After her death he married Cornelia Davis Bel- lamy, daughter of Judge Joel Bellamy, a native of Catskill, this State, and a second cousin of Edward Bellamy, the famous writer of that choice literary production, " Looking Backward." They had one child, Lauren W. He was a member and senior warden of St. Peter's Episcopal church, and a member of Niagara Frontier Lodge, No. 132, Frce and Accepted Masons, in which fraternity he always took an active part.
Lauren W. Pettebone was educated in the common and private schools until he arrived at manhood's years, and then (1866 ) entered the business offiee of his father, where he has remained, and has been in the paper business, too, ever since. The company is still known as the Pettebone Paper Com- pany. They employ forty men in their factory, manufacture roll newspaper, pro- duee thirty thousand pounds of paper every twenty-four hours, and run both day and night. He is president of the Pettebone Paper Company, and a director in the Ni- agara Falls Water Works Company, Cataraet bank, Niagara County Savings bank, Lewis-
ton Water Supply Company, and also sec- retary of Rodwell Manufacturing Company, and a director in Cataract Wood Supply Company. He was first lieutenant of the forty-second separate company of infantry, national guard, at Niagara Falls, and has since been promoted to be major and in- spector of rifle practice of the fourth brig- ade, on the staff of brigadier-general P. C. Doyle. In his younger days he was foreman of the Hook & Ladder company.
September 14, 1881, Lauren W. Pettebone was united in marriage with Lavina Porter Townsend, a daughter of Daniel J. and Jane (Porter) Townsend. They have had born to them three children : Lauren A., Harold C., now deceased, and Gladys.
He is a republican, but not a real parti- zan, as he is independent at times, and at such times, as in his judgment, the party does not do what is the best for the county and business interests. He is a member and vestryman of St. Peter's Episcopal church.
D R. LAWRENCE W. BRISTOL is the oldest dentist now practicing in Loek- port. He came in 1839 from Syracuse, New York, having practiced his profession in that city eight years, previous to which he had been located in the city of New York. He was born in Old Canaan, Liteh- field eounty, Connecticut, September 16, 1816, and his parents were John B. and Betsey (Lawrence ) Bristol, the father a na- tive of Fort Edward, New York, and the mother, who was a daughter of Nathan Lawrence, was born at Canaan, Connecti- cut. John B. Bristol was of Welsh descent (his father, Benjamin Bristol, having been born in Wales ), and his wife was of English extraction. He was a millwright by trade, and spent all his active life in that oeeupa-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
tion. He died in Spring Brook, Erie county, this State, some twenty-four years ago, at an advanced age.
Lawrence W. Bristol was reared in Shef- field and Lenox, Massachusetts, and re- ceived his education in the public schools of those villages. After leaving school he be- came an apprentice in a printing office at Homer, New York, and worked at the "art preservative" for a period of ten years, eight of which were passed in the city of Syracuse as a compositor on the Syracuse Constitutionalist. Tiring of this business, he began to learn dentistry, and later removed to New York and entered the dental estab- lishment of Drs. Jolin and Harvey Burdell as a student. Here he remained for nearly two years, after which he returned to Syra- cuse and commenced the practice of his profession. In 1839 he removed to Lock- port, this county, and has ever since resided in that city, devoting his time and attention principally to fine dental work. He has been very successful, and is widely known for his skill and ability. He owns twenty acres of valuable land one mile west of Lock- port, and also owns the handsome city prop- erty where he lives.
In 1845 Dr. Bristol was married to Lo- vina Harrington, of Lockport. She died in 1850, leaving one child, a daughter, who is now Mrs. Ada M. Sowter, residing in the city of Lockport. In 1852 he was again married, this time wedding Saphronia Sad- ler, daughter of Warren Sadler, of Lock- port. She also died some fifteen years ago, leaving three children, only two of whom now survive: Anna Maria, now the wife of Thomas W. Hooker, of Lockport; and Florena, who married Charles A. Stark, and is now living at Duluth, Minnesota.
In political belief Mr. Bristol is a stanch
democrat, and has been active and influen- tial in support of his party. He has served as chief engineer of the city three terms, as alderman from the first ward for three years, and has been a member of the board of health for the extended period of seventeen years. He has served as president of the board of excise for six years, and occupies that position at the present time. He is a Universalist in religious belief, but his fam- ily are Episcopalians. He became an Odd Fellow in 1844, and is now treasurer of Cataract Lodge, No. 54, of Lockport.
OSEPH T. BELLAH, deceased, was a son of John and Ann Bellah, and was born June 27, 1811, in eastern Pennsylva- nia. IIe located and purchased property at Lockport in 1832, and soon after began the manufacture of doors, sash, and blinds. He was also interested in the hardware business for some years, and was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Lockport Gas and Light Company, of which he became treasurer and superintendent, and of the Glenwood Cemetery Company. He was a republican in politics, and served for a time as justice of the peace. He died in April, 1877, aged sixty-six years. In re- ligious belief he was a Quaker, and married Elizabeth Warner, of Wilmington, Dela- ware, by whom he had a family of four sons : James John and William Warner, twins, who live with their widowed mother; Thomas S., married Anna Quigley ( who died, leaving one son, Thomas, jr. ) and lives at Wilmington, Delaware, where he is en- gaged in the wholesale iron and steel trade ; and Joseph, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who married Anna Evans, by whom he has had three children : J. Warner and Robert G., living, and Elizabeth, deceased.
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
H ON. WILLIAM RICHMOND, ex- mayor of Lockport, ranks among the leading manufacturers of western New York. He has, by his enterprise and rare business qualifications, contributed largely to the material development of the manu- facturing interests of Lockport, and identi- fied himself with its history. Among the many industries of this city there are none, considering the capital invested and the age of the plant, that has a steadier growth or has gained a wider reputation than the Richmond Manufacturing Company, over which he presides. Considering what he has already accomplished, and that he has not yet reached the prime of life, his future carcer is full of promise. He was born October 6, 1847, in Worcestershire, Eng- land. He comes of the sturdy English stock, and of an ancestry distinguished for perseverence, manufacturing and commer- cial enterprise. He is the son of John and Mary (Payne) Richmond, and the grand- son of George and Hannah (Fox) Rich- mond, who were natives of Staffordshire, England. George Richmond (grandfather), like most of the old English gentlemen of that day, was exceedingly fruitful and reared a large family of ten children. In his old age he concluded to come to America, and did so in 1844, and settled in Auburn, this State, and that city was his home until he died, a few years afterward. John Rich- mond (father) was born in Staffordshire, England, and made his first trip to the United States in 1840; after remaining here three years he returned to England and married Mary Payne, daughter of John and Hannah ( Danby ) Payne, of Worcester- shire, England. IIe returned to this country in 1863 and settled in Oswego for awhile, but finally located at Perry, Wyoming
county, this State. They had three chil- dren : William, John, of Minnesota, who died in 1890, and Mary H. Hutton, of Perry. After the death of his first wife he married Ann Payne. He was a miller by trade, and owned and operated a flouring-mill at Perry until his retirement from active business in 1887, when Mr. Hutton, his son-in-law, suc- ceeded him in the business and now runs the mill. He was an enterprising and care- ful business man, and by strict economy, close attention and untiring energy he met with good success, and is now in comforta- ble circumstances. His first wife, Mary, the mother of William, was a typical English lady, and possessed all the sterling qualities and domestic habits that are peculiar to English ladies; and her unceasing watch- fulness, early training and discipline had much to do in forming and moulding the character of the subject of this sketch.
William Richmond spent sixteen years of his boyhood in the Old Country, and was educated in the private schools of England, receiving a good common English educa- tion, which was the ground work upon which he has continued to build year by year, until he now ranks among the best informed men of Lockport. His boyhood was spent as happily as a robust, hearty, English lad could expect. After finishing his education he learned the milling busi- ness with his father. He followed this employment from 1864 to 1868, working for his father and divers other parties. In 1868 he came to Lockport and went into the employment of his uncle, James Rich- mond, who was manufacturing grain clean- ing machinery and bran dusters, and continued with him until the death of the latter in 1873, when he succeeded to the business. He continued it alone until 1881,
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
during which time he succeeded in accumu- lating considerable capital. In 1881 he organized the Richmond Manufacturing Company, which has ever since been man- ufacturing grain cleaning machinery and bran dusters. The company has built an extensive plant, which ranks among the leading manufacturing establishments of Lockport. The building is 40 x192, and four stories high. They work a large force, averaging about sixty men, and turn out an immense output of machinery during the year. They have several traveling sales- men, and an extensive trade throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, India, Aus- tralia and South America, and their trade is constantly increasing from year to year. There is not a wheat growing country in the world that does not use machinery built at this plant ; and yet we might say that this industry is still in its infancy, as the company has only been in existence ten years. This great industry is an enduring monument to the wisdom, enterprise, and business ability of Mr. Richmond, while it is of great advantage to Lockport, as it gives employment to her people and draws money here from all over the world and distributes it with a liberal hand for labor and material. In this country of vast opportunities, with its present advantages and wide reputation, the Richmond Manu- facturing Company will soon grow to be a mammoth industry, and one of the leading enterprises of the kind in the United States.
William Richmond is as fortunate and happy in his domestic as in his business rela- tions. He married Mary, daughter of Wil- liam McGill, on the 12th day of October, 1870. Mrs. Richmond is a lady of high social standing, a pleasant and agreeable companion, but domestic in her taste, believ-
ing that a woman's highest ambition should be to reign the queen of a happy home. She rejoices in the motherhood of four children, whose names are: James, Mary, John McLean, and Philip Alfred.
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