USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 23
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
was born at Alstead, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, November 9, 1782, and re- moved from there to the city of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1802, and from thence to the town of Hartland, this county, in 1810, where he died February 1, 1861. He was one of the pioneers of the county ; nearly the entire county being a dense forest at that time, and settlers few and far between. He bought ninety- three acres of land from the Holland Land Company, which was organized after the Revolutionary war, and owned large bodies of land in the eastern States. The deed to this tract of land is dated May 3, 1820, and is now in the possession of Walter L., and is highly valued for its antiquity. He cleared and improved this tract of land himself, and farmed it. He was a physician by pro- fession, and having completed his course of studies as a medical student, he was granted a diploma by the Medical Society of Cayuga county, August 4, 1808, and immediately entered the active practice of medicine. He was for years the only physician in the vicinity of Johson's Creek. Ile also fol- lowed farming in connection with his pro- fession, and was very successful in both. In politics he was a Jacksonian democrat, and a stanch believer in the principles of democracy. He was a member of the Baptist church at Johnson's Creek, and attended that church. He married Cather- ine Lyon, of Auburn, this State, with whom he lived a long and happy life. Their union was blest with eleven children, five sons and six daughters, all of whom they reared and properly educated.
Walter L. Crain received his education in the common schools, and started out in life on his own account at the early age of
nineteen. He commenced life steamboat- ing, at which he continued six years, when he took a situation as a clerk in Buffalo, New York, with Henry Moore, where he remained one year. He then went into a dry goods store at Johnson's Creek, where he was engaged for three years, when he became a clerk for S. II. Marks, at Lock- port. In 1852 he opened a grocery store for himself, which he conducted for two months, and afterwards took a position as clerk in the store of James Scribner, with whom he remained five years, at the end of which time he engaged as book-keeper with Douglas & Jackson, flouring-mill operators, where he remained four years. In 1861 he moved to Hartland town, and settled on a farm, and was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits for a number of years, until he accumulated sufficient property to put him in easy circumstances and enable him to retire from active business. He was formerly a whig politically, but became a republican before the war, and has con- tinued to be an earnest believer in republi- can principles ever since.
On January 30, 1848, he married Mehat- abel G. Wright, daughter of John and Anna (Marshall) Wright. He and his estimable companion have been free from many of the ordinary cares of married life, and have had a quiet, peaceful and happy life, enjoy- ing the esteem and good-will of all who know them.
W ILLIAM J. STERRITT, one of the
prominent business men and public- spirited citizens of Middleport, is a son of Thomas and Rebecca ( Morton) Sterritt, and was born in the city of Lockport, Niagara county, New York, April 4, 1856. His
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paternal grandfather, William Sterritt, was a weaver and farmer in Ireland, where he died in his native county of Armagh in 1857, aged eighty-nine years. He married Sarah Clark, who passed away in 1870, at the age of sixty-five years. To them were born seven sous and two daughters, of whom five sons came to America. Robert came to this country in 1837, and was followed by William in 1846. James was a soldier in the English standing army in the East Indies, who was transferred to the West Indies in 1840, and in 1846 purchased his discharge at Halifax, from which place he came to Buffalo, New York, but two years later removed to Canada, where he now resides. Thomas came in 1851, and two years later John, the fifth brother, settled in the county, but returned to Ireland after a residence of four years. Thomas Sterritt, the fourth brother, and the father of the subject of this sketch, remained in Lockport for several years after coming to the United States, and then, in 1864, re- moved to Middleport, his present place of residence. He is a cooper by trade, cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, whose party he has supported ever since, and has been for many years a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He married Rebecca Morton, who died at Lockport, July 7, 1857, aged twenty-six years, and left two children : Sarah E., born April 20, 1854, and William J.
William J. Sterritt, after receiving a good common school education, entered Rochester Business niversity, from which institution he was graduated in 1876. In 1875 he had commenced his present cooperage business, and in the fall of 1878 purchased the Middleport heading mills, which he still owns. In 1884 Mr. Sterritt formed a
partnership with G. W. Eddy and S. G. Rowley, and they purchased the Middle- port paper mill from the Middleport Paper Mill Company, which they operated until 1886, when Mr. Sterritt bought the interests of Messrs. Eddy and Rowley. From 1886 to 1891 he operated these mills individually, and in the latter year formed a joint stock company which was incorporated as the Hartland Paper Company, with a capital of thirty thousand dollars. Of this company he is treasurer, secretary, and general manager. In politics a republican, he has served for three terms as president of the board of trustees in his village; while in religion he is an Episcopalian, and has served for some length of time as a warden of the Middleport church of that denomi- nation. He is a member of Genesee Com- mandry, No. 10, Free and Accepted Masons.
September 5, 1877, he married Mary E., daughter of Linns Spalding, of Middleport (see his sketch). They have four children : Linus S., born September 24, 1878; Frank W., born January 21, 1885; Louise R., born November 27, 1886; and Robert T., born October 19, 1888.
The plant of the Hartland Paper Com- pany covers a considerable area. The mill is a two-story building, 60 x 100 feet in dimensions, with a boiler-room 30 x 40 feet attached. Mr. Sterritt employs a regular force of twenty-three men, and his weekly output is thirty tous of straw wrapping paper and cedar bark carpet lining. The four stages of society that have grown up since man came upon the earth have been savages, herdsmen, busbandmen, and manu- facturers, although the latest to develop, is as equally important as agriculture. The important bearing that such a well organ- ized industry as Mr. Sterritt's has upon the
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welfare of the community can hardly be overestimated. He is a man of energy and marked practical ability, and is to be congratulated upon the large measure ' of success which has attended his efforts in the manufacture of paper and the material and industrial development of Middleport.
C R. HENRY L. CLEVELAND, one of the young and progressive dentists of the city of Lockport, is a son of Joel S. and Elizabeth ( Walker) Cleveland, and was born in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, New York, June 16, 1856. The Cleveland family is of Scotch origin and settled in England, from which several members of it came to New England. One of their descendants was John Cleveland (grandfather), who left his native State of New Hampshire, to become one of the pio- neers of the town of Wilson, this county, where he died at an advanced age. One of his sons was Joel S. Cleveland, the father of the subject of this sketch, who was born in 1820. IIe owned a small farm in each of the towns of Wilson and Cambria, and in the latter town owned and operated quite a large blacksmith shop, and rather an extensive wagon-making establishment. Ife was a democrat, and died in 1858, when in the very prime of life. He married Elizabeth Walker, who was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and passed away in 1883, at the age of sixty-two years.
Henry L. Cleveland was reared in the town of Cambria until he was fifteen years of age, when he became a resident of the town of Porter, which he soon left to re- move to Lockport. He received his educa- tion in the district schools of Cambria and Porter, and the Lockport Union school.
Soon after leaving school he commenced the study of dentistry in the city of Lockport, and during the winter of 1879-80 he at- tended the New York school of dentistry, after which he returned to Lockport, where he has been ever since in the active and successful practice of his profession.
Dr. Cleveland is unmarried, and has al- ways been a straight and unswerving dem- ocrat in politics. In the fall of 1891, at the earnest solicitation of his numerous personal and political friends, he became a candidate for coroner, and was elected by the handsome majority of seven hundred and thirty-seven votes. He believes in the future development and prosperity of the city of Lockport, with which he has cast in his fortunes. IIe has served as chief engin- eer of the Lockport fire department since April 14, 1891, and is an active member of the hook and ladder company. Dr. Cleve- land has eligible and well fitted dental rooms, and endeavors by reading and study to keep abreast of the times in his chosen profession.
L IEUTENANT LOUIS VIEDT, one of the prominent business men of Lockport, and a veteran of the Franco- Prussian war, was born in Schwerin, Mecklenburg, Germany, January 30, 1851, and is a son of Henry and Julia ( Abel) Viedt. His parents were natives of Schwerin, Mecklenburg, and consistent members of the Evangelical Lutheran church, in which faith they were reared. Henry Viedt was a successful carriage manufacturer and operated a large carriage factory until his death, which occurred in 1883, when he was in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His widow, who was born
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
in 1821, still resides on the old homestead in very comfortable circumstances.
Louis Viedt grew to manhood in his native city, received his education in the high school of Schwerin, and at seventeen years of age entered the German army as a one year's volunteer. After completing his required military duty he resumed his studies for eighteen months, during which time he made a specialty of mathematics, with the expectation of. becoming a civil engineer. But the opening thunders of the great Franco-Prussian war broke over Europe, and he left home to do duty for his country in one of her magnificent armies that was hurled with lightning rapidity upon the soil of unprepared and astonished France, whose legions were expectant of warring on German fields and plains. He was drafted as a private, was promoted cor- poral, and before the close of the war, dur- ing 1871, was a lieutenant. After a year's hard marching and fighting in France he was honorably discharged after the fall of Paris, and four weeks later embarked for the United States, where he then expected to remain but five years. Arriving at Buffalo he worked eighteen months in the leather store of J. P. Sehoellkopf, and in the autumn of 1872 went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he accepted a position as traveling salesman for Trostel & Gallun, a large tanning firm of that eity. His field embraced a large area of several of the northwestern States, which he traveled for five years, when he came, in 1878, to Lock- port, where he embarked in the hide busi- ness, which he followed successfully until 1889. In that year he retired from active business, and since then has visited the scenes of his early childhood in the Father- land, as well as many of the noted places
and famous spots of Europe. He has crossed the Atlantic ocean nine times, and while never neglectful of his duties as a citizen of the Republic, is not forgetful of being a son of the Fatherland.
On March 28, 1883, he married Elizabeth Jane Hildreth, daughter of George W. Hildreth of Lockport.
Louis Viedt is an active member of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is an energetie and faithful member and a success- ful teacher in its Sunday school. He is a member of Genesee Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar, and was Worshipful Master for three years of Lockport Lodge, No. 73, Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Viedt has served as water and health com- missioner of his eity, and is now secretary of the Niagara County Agricultural Society.
IIe is a straight republican who believes in a whole-hearted and earnest support of his party, and is always found in the advance when republican nominees or prin- ciples need either defenders or workers. HIe stands high for uprightness in his busi- ness dealings through life, and with the promise of many years yet before him, his city can reasonably expect much benefit from some of his future business enter- prises.
TINUS SPALDING, one of Middle- port's most successful and influential buisness men, is a son of Linus, Sr., and Lydia (Shepherd) Spalding, and was born in the town of Hartland, Niagara county, New York, June 13, 1824. The Spaldings are of English descent, and were resident in New England over a century ago. Linus Spalding, Sr., was born in the State of Vermont in 1787; removed at fourteen years of age to Broome county, this State,
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where he married. From Broome county he removed in 1811 to Niagara county, where he became one of the early pioneers of the town of Hartland, which was then principally covered with heavy forests. He purchased a tract of one hundred and twenty acres of land from the old Holland Land Company, and cleared and improved it. He added, by successive purchases of land, to this farm, until he owned over a section of valuable land. He gave his attention to farming, in which he met with the best of success, yet he was active in whatever was for the improvement of his town or county, and assisted in building the first bridge across the Genesee river. Politically he was originally an old -line whig, and after that party had disappeared from the political stage, he identified him- self with the democracy, which he supported until his death, October, 1871. While ever alive to the needs and success of his party, yet he never aspired to office, and when clected supervisor of the town of Hartland he peremptorily refused to serve, and im- mediately resigned. He was one of the founders and a consistent member of the Universalist church of Middleport. Mr. Spalding was twice married. His first wife was Lydia Shepherd, who died and left seven children, four sons and three dangh- ters. He married for his second wife Tamerson Spalding, by whom he had one child.
Linus Spalding received an academic education in the village of Middleport, followed farming until he was twenty- seven years of age, when he embarked in the mercantile business at Middleport in partnership with W. S. Fenn and Charles Craig, under the firm name of Fenn, Craig & Spalding. This partnership was formed
in 1851, and continued until 1854, when Mr. Spalding withdrew from the firm and again engaged in farming and stock-raising, which he followed successfully until 1871. In that year he opened a general mercantile store at Middleport, which he conducted until 1890, when he retired from active business on account of a paralytic stroke which he then had. He was quite successful as a business man, as ability and industry marked his course at every step, and con- tributed to his high standing and prosperity as a merchant and a farmer. He was formerly a whig, until that party was succeeded by the Republican party, when he allied himself with the democrats. He has been prominent in local politics, served seven terms from 1856 as supervisor of the town of Hartland, and is well known as a strong supporter of the principles of democracy. He is a member of the Universalist church, and has lived a life of activity and usefulness.
On January 22, 1851, he married Cordelia H. Compton. They have two children, both daughters : Mary E., who married William J. Sterritt, of Middleport, one of the prom- inent paper manufacturers of western New York, and whose sketch appears in this volume; and Lonise C., wife of Edgar B. French, who resides in Middleport, and is engaged in the hardware business.
JOHN H. BUCK, an old and well- known member of the Niagara county bar and a lawyer of extensive practice, was born in the town of Northfield, Vermont, November 22, 1827, and is a son of John L. and Mary Ann (Hildreth ) Buck. The Buck family is one of the old and thrifty families of Connecticut, and various
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branches of it are settled in different States of the Union. One branch of it was founded in Vermont, where, at Read- ing, John L. Buck, the father of John H. Buck, was born in 1801. He read law, was admitted to practice in 1825, and was a whig until the disruption of that party, when he became a democrat. In 1851 he came to Lockport, where he soon built up a fine law practice and was elected district attorney for three years in 1853. He was a quiet, conscientious man, who lived in his profession and was a fine advocate. He was a member of the board of education for twelve years, served as a United States commissioner for several years, and enjoyed the respect of all who knew him. He was active in polities, had been a member of the Protestant Episcopal church for a long period of time, and died in February, 1881. His wife, Mary Ann ( Hildreth ) Buck, was born in Concord, New Hampshire, and after a devoted and consistent membership of many years in the Protestant Episcopal church, passed away in 1864, aged sixty years.
John H. Buck received his academic edu- cation in Montpelier, Vermont, and was graduated from the University of Ver- mont in 1850, from which he received the degree of Master of Arts in 1853. He read law with his father, was admitted to the Buffalo bar in 1854, and became a partner with his father in Lockport, in the law firm of J. L. & J. H. Buck, which continued uninterruptedly until the death of his father in 1880. Since then, Mr. Buck has not only retained the clients of the late firm, but has added new ones to his praetice, and has an extensive and re- munerative patronage. In avoeations of life other than professional, Mr. Buek has
also had his full share of duties to perform, and received the just credit due his faithful labors in serving public and private in- terests. He served as a member of the board of education for six years, has for a number of years been a director of the Niagara County National bank, and is now chairman of the board of trustees of De Veaux college at the American side of the suspension bridge, Niagara Falls. He is a senior warden of the Protestant Episcopal church, and a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 20, Ancient Order of United Work- men ; Washington Lodge, Knights of Honor, and Red Jacket Lodge, No. 646, Free and Accepted Masons. John H. Buck is an active democrat of the Jacksonian type, who has always been unswerving in the support of his party, which elected him, in 1874, and again in 1875, as mayor of Lockport. He believes in the principles of Jefferson as enunciated by Jackson, and practiced by Cleveland, and favors an economical administration of public affairs from the town offices up to the highest positions under the general government.
On August 24, 1854, he married Harriet M., daughter of Hon. Paris Fletcher, of Bridport, Vermont. They have four chil- dren, one son and three daughters : Dr. Champlin F., a practicing physician of Buffalo; Mary A., wife of Spalding Evans, of Lockport; Harriet E., and Fannie F.
H ARVEY D. SPALDING, of Middle- port, is one of those who have had extensive experience in the general mer- cantile business in many different localities. He is a son of Linus, Sr., and Lydia (Shep- herd) Spalding, and was born in the town of Hartland, Niagara county, New York,
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June 13, 1832. The Spaldings are of Eng- lish extraction, and were founded in New York by Linus Spalding, Sr., who was born in Vermont in 1787 and successively resided in Monroe, Broome, and Niagara counties. He was a pioneer settler of the town of Hartland, where he became one of the most thrifty, influential and highly respected of its citizens. He married Lydia Shepherd, and after her death Tamerson Spalding. He was a large land-owner, a democrat in poli- ties, and a Universalist in religious belief. He died in October, 1871, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He was one of those who purchased land from the old Hol- land Land Company, and a more extended account of his life will be found in the sketch of his son, Linus Spalding, which appears in this volume.
After receiving a good practical English education, he commenced life for himself in the business world as a clerk in a general merchandise store in Middleport, where he remained for two years. He was then en- gaged in farming in the town of Hartland for two years, and at the end of that time went to Middleport where he was engaged for two years in the clothing business. His next employment was in a general mercan- tile establishment, where he served for three years as a salesman, and at the end of that period, in 1859, went to Lockport to engage in the produce business. One year later he removed to Johnson's Creek, where he acted for four years as a salesman for C. H. Francis. About the close of the late civil war he became a resident of Ridgeway, where he remained five years as a salesman in a mercantile establishment, which he left in 1870 to again turn his attention to farm- ing, which he followed for two years in the town of Ridgeway, Orleans county. In
1872 he removed to the village of Middle- port, where he has resided ever since. Dur- ing the first four years after settling there he was a salesman in a general mercantile establishment, and since then, excepting one year spent in stock dealing, has been more or less actively engaged in various lines of business. Ile is honorable and courteous, and stands well both in private and com- mercial life.
December 5, 1855, he married Hattie Cleveland, daughter of Abraham A. Cleve- land. She was born August 16, 1836. They have been the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters : Van S., Willie F., (deceased) ; Hattie F., wife of W. J. Her- rington, who resides at Massadon, where he is telegraph operator and ticket and freight agent of the West Shore railroad ; Fred L., and Nellie R.
Politically Mr. Spalding is a republican, has served several terms as constable and collector of the town of Royalton, and was postmaster of Middleport from 1877 to 1881. He is a member, and has been secretary for a number of years, of Middleport Lodge, No. 54, Ancient Order of United Workmen.
H ON. WILLARD ADAMS COBB,
a public-spirited citizen of New York, the editor of the Lockport Daily Journal, and a member of the board of regents of this State, is the only child of Dr. J. V. and Elvira C. (Kingsley) Cobb, and was born in Rome, Oneida county, New York, July 20, 1842. His father, Dr. J. V. Cobb, was born at Carver, Massachusetts, in 1811, read medicine, and soon after engaging in the active practice of his profession removed to Rome, New York, where he was a promi- nent and successful physician for a period
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of over forty years previous to his death in 1877. He was active and influential in county, state, and national societies, con- ventions, and associations. He held several positions of political trust, was a republican in politics, and married Elvira C. Kingsley, of Dunkirk, New York, who survives him.
Willard A. Cobb received his education in Rome academy, Dwight's Rural high school, and Hamilton college, which latter well-known educational institution he en- tered in 1860, and from which he was graduated with honors in 1864. Leaving college he selected journalism as his field of work, and became a member of the repor- torial force of the old Chicago Post (now, by newspaper evolution, the Inter-Ocean). A year later he became connected with the Racine Adcocate (Wisconsin), which he served successively as reporter and editor until 1865, when he accepted the position of local editor of the Utica Morning Herald. After three years of creditable and satisfac- tory labor he severed his connection with the Herald to assume personal control of the Dunkirk Journal, of which he had become proprietor. In 1871 he sold the Journal, and came to Lockport, where he purchased a fourth interest in the Lockport Daily Journal, of which he was associate editor until 1880, when he purchased a one- half interest in the paper as a member of the firm of Ward and Cobb. Since 1880 he has been editor-in-chief of the paper, which issues both daily and semi-weekly editions. The Journal is one of the leading republican papers of western New York, has been recognized for several years as the organ in its party in the Thirty-third Con- gressional district, and is perhaps quoted more in the State than any other paper published in the smaller cities. The Journal
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