USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 28
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church. He was a strong democrat, and for twenty years before his death, either repre- sented his ward in the city council or on the board of supervisors. Success attended all of his many ventures in various lines of business, and at the same time he had leisure to cultivate the friendship of many with whom he had no business relations, while he enjoyed the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He was thrice married. His first wife was a daughter of Gen. Bene- dict Brooks, of Wyoming county. In three months after their marriage she died, and he married Fidelia Scoville, daughter of Josiah Scoville, of Cambria, New York, who died February 21, 1853. His third wife was Elizabeth A. Allen, of Norwich, Connecticut, and she preceded him to the tomb by two years. By his second marriage he had five children : Hiram and S. Wright, of Lock- port; John T., a resident of Bushnell, Florida; Annie F., who married D. C. Me- Guire, of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada ; and Mary E., wife of Dr. Francis Gallagher, of St. Marys, Kansas.
S. W. McCollum was reared in Lockport and received his education in the city schools and the seminary of our Lady of Angels at Suspension Bridge. Upon attaining his majority he became an equal partner with his father in various lines of business of the latter. Since the death of his father he has increased many of his enterprises one hundred fold, and in all of them he has been signally successful. He has some of the largest, finest cultivated, and care- fully pruned orchards in the State. George T. Powell, head of the New York State Agricultural Society, said in referring to these orchards in a published address : "I have seen the best pear orchard in the State since I have been in Lockport. I
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refer to S. Wright McCollum's orchard. This is a great State for raising pears, and there are thousands of good pear orchards, but Mr. MeCollum can beat them all. I advise every fruit-grower in Niagara county to visit his farm and take lessons in raising fruit. He can teach the best of us and give us many points of value." He is a man of excellent business methods, who never neglects any detail, however trifling, and success has been the reward of his efforts. He is a member of the Catholic church. In politics Mr. MeCollum is a democrat, who has always been earnest in the support of his party, which has con- tinually made demands upon his time to serve in various publie positions. He was a member of the board of excise for seven years; and of the board of education for six years, and was put forward in 1872 as democratie candidate for mayor, in which exciting temperance contest he only lacked sixty-nine votes of being elected in a strong republican city. He served as chairman of the democratic county committee in 1883 and 1884. He headed his delegation to many State conventions, and had the honor of being the first delegate elected for Cleve- land for governor in the State of New York. On April 3, 1877, he was appointed by President Cleveland as postmaster of Lock- port for a term of four years, which he filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to the public, serving over two years under a republican administration.
On November 27, 1873, he united in marriage with Ella K. Allen, daughter of D. O. Allen, of Houston, Texas. To their union have been born nine children, four sons and five daughters : Blanche A., Fran- cis J., Hiram, Marie E., John A., Hattie B., Ella K., Silas W., Jr., and Josephine.
J OHN HODGE, a representative citizen and business man of western New York, ex-president of the board of education of the city of Lockport, where he has resided over thirty years, one of the commissioners of the Niagara Reservation, and a distin- guished member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he holds the thirty-third degree, A. A. S. R., was born in Jefferson county, New York, in 1837. He was a boy of ten- der years when he found his way to Lock- port, then little more than a thriving village ; and, equipped with no greater fortune than an unsullied name and indomitable pluck, began for himself the battle of life. A writer, cognizant of his early days, says of him : "In his youthful ambition he evinced a thirst for scholastic knowledge, and availed himself of the earliest opportunity for its attainment at an institution near the place of his birth, where, by precocious aptitude and untiring application, he soon achieved advancement, and laid firmly the foundation of that symmetrical character which has since enabled him not only to attain but command success." At the time lie entered it, Lockport, although but a village, pos- sessed many advantages. As the county- seat of Niagara county it was a most desir- able place for one to live in, who, like the subject of this sketch, had in view entrance to the legal profession as the goal of his ambition. In its publie places might be found, while the courts were in session, judges and lawyers of wide repute; and in its bustling streets, during the same period, officials of various grades, from State sena- tors to justices of the peace, and from sheriff's to writ-servers, all consciously or unconsciously airing their temporary im- portance before their fellows. The effect of proximity to scenes of this description,
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especially upon a lad whose knowledge of the world was in its infancy, can easily be imagined. The career of all careers seemed to him to lie in the law, and upon its study he resolved to enter. The opportunity to begin came to him almost for the asking, and he found the study of the ponderous and musty tomes of law more than conge- nial; indeed, almost fascinating. But as he progressed in his legal studies the practical side of his character developed. By degrees he found that his mind wandered from the hair-splitting intricacies of the law to a comparison of its rewards, as he saw them, with the fruits of successful effort in the broad fields of commerce, manufactures and finance, in which there were numerous in- stances of country boys, without a collegiate education or other advantages, having at- tained to wealth and eminence. For a time there was a mental wrestle between the sentimental and the practical in his nature, but the struggle was ended by him giving up Blackstone and Kent for the day-book and ledger, and while it can not be doubted that, through his change of purpose, the legal profession lost one who might have risen to become one of its most brilliant ornaments, it must be admitted that the business world gained one of its most lib- eral, distinguished and successful members. At this critical period in his career, the turning point of his fortune, as it were, he became connected with the Merchant's Gar- gling Oil Company, and speedily proving his worth was finally advanced to the posi- tion of secretary and sole manager of the corporation. The outcome of his assidu- ous, shrewd and intelligent labors in this field was a handsome fortune, which he has now been in the enjoyment of for some years, and which is still augmenting from
its original source. With an affection for the theatre of his early struggles and suc- cesses, which reflects the highest credit upon both his heart and judgment, Mr. Hodge gave the benefit of the first fruits of his business success to the city of Lockport. Finding himself the possessor of a surplus beyond the needs of his immediate business, he employed it in the erection of a temple of music and drama, which was appropriately styled the Hodge Opera House. This beautiful struc- ture, built at a cost of $125,000, was destroyed by fire soon after its erection. This calam- ity, far from discouraging the enterprise of Mr. Hodge, seemed to spur it to new en- deavor, and the consequence was that the Opera House was immediately rebuilt, if anything, on a grander and more expensive scale than originally projected. The struc- ture covers a city block. In its erection Mr. Hodge gave every possible advantage to Lockport and its people. All the ma- terial used was bought or contracted for in Lockport, and the labor of building was entrusted wholly to residents of that city. The structure stands, to-day, after years of constant usefulness, a stately mon- ument to the success and public spirit of its founder and owner, and one of the chief architectural beauties of the city. Although a striking instance of Mr. Hodge's devotion to the interests of Lockport, this is by no means the only one, for it is well known that so far as it is possible the various en- terprises in which he has an interest, direc- tion, or a controlling voice are so adminis- tered as to secure to the people of that place every honest advantage and profit possible. This being the fact, it is not to be wondered at that Mr. Hodge is popular as well as successful. The persistent and occasionally arduous demands made upon
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his time by the extensive business interests over which he presides as manager have not operated to develop selfishness or to alienate him from his fellow citizens. For years he has been one of the most active and prominent men in the city, in a variety of fields. The scope of his activities is something wonderful, and a constant matter of surprise even to those who know his earnest and enterprising nature most inti- mately. "It has frequently surprised us," wrote one of the editors of a leading New York paper, alluding to the versatility of effort on the part of Mr. Hodge, "that one mind could compass and discharge so faith- fully and successfully so many varied re- sponsibilities." And the same writer adds : " His quick perception, power of organiza- tion, invincible energy, and ready dispatch, may, perhaps, in some degree, account for his achievements, which would ordinarily depress the will or constitution of most business men." In the movement to obtain pure drinking water for the city, Mr. Hodge was active from the start, and upon the or- ganization of the Lockport Water Supply Company, was chosen its president. He is also president and treasurer of the Lockport Street Railroad Company, treasurer of the Lockport and Buffalo Railroad Company for years, and president of the Glenwood Cemetery Association. In 1881 he was elected president of the board of education of Lockport, in recognition of his warm interest in educational work, and held the office for nine years. To him belongs the honor of having, in 1874, taken the initia- tive in the matter of presenting a gold medal annually to that member of the Lockport Union school whose record enti- tled him or her thereto. In 1888 Governor D. B. Hill, of New York, appointed him a
member of the board of commissioners of the Niagara (State) Reservation, with which, also, he still remains connected. The New York Times, commenting upon his appoint- ment to the last named office, said : " Mr. Hodge is recognized in the western part of the State as a representative business man and public-spirited citizen, and ranks high in the commercial world." Among the other corporate positions Mr. Hodge has held or holds, may be mentioned the presi- dency of the Union Printing and Publishing Company for many years, of the Lockport Improvement Association, of the Mutual Aid and Accident Association of Rochester, of the Fireman's Life Association, and also of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, and of the Home for the Friend- less at Lockport ; also one of the police com- missioners for years; in the Masonic Life Association, of New York, and in the Attica, Lockport and Lake Ontario Railroad Com- pany. He was at one time chief of the Lockport Fire department. In works of benevolence he is a prompt and liberal giver, making no restrictions as to sect or management, provided he knows the cause is a worthy one, but carefully avoiding all publicity. In religious work, likewise, he is well known, being a trustee of one of the largest churches in Lockport, and a generous supporter of its charities. In the fraternal organization (co-operative insur- ance) known as the Ancient Order of United Workmen, he has long held high official position, and at the present time is grand receiver (treasurer) of the Order in the State of New York. Quite early in life Mr. Hodge conceived a favorable opinion of masonry, and upon attaining his majority, applied for admission to this order, through Niagara Lodge, No. 375, of Lockport, by
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which he was received and raised to the degree of Master Mason. He was chosen secretary of his lodge at the next succeeding election, and, in 1881 and 1882, sat in the chair of master. Having the proud satisfac- tion of knowing that his lodge was enjoying a high degree of prosperity, he declined re- election as master in 1883. In the year preceding he was made district deputy, grand master of the twenty-fourtli Masonic district of New York, and after holding that office three years, was, in June, 1885, unanimously elected junior grand warden of the Grand Lodge of the "Empire State," to which exalted station he has been in like manner annually re-chosen until 1891, when unanimously elected senior grand warden, and, in the opinion of eminent masonic authority, there is every possibility that he may yet be called to preside as grand master. In recognition of his distinguished services to masonry, Lockport Lodge, No. 73, and Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, have conferred upon him honorary membership. In May, 1887, he was appointed grand representa- tive of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Pennsylvania. In 1881 he was appointed grand representative of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. In 1869 he received the honors of Masonic Knight- hood, in Genesee Commandery, at Lockport, and shortly afterwards was complimented by unanimous election to honorary member- ship in Cyrene Commandery, of Rochester. On the organization of Lock City Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. R., December 25, 1875, due largely to his initiative, he was elected Thrice Potent grand master, and presided most successfully until 1883, with interreg- num in 1881, when he declined. The pros- perity of this lodge under his wise, energetic and beneficent administration, was regarded
in masonic circles as phenomenal, and it is probably at the head of this rite in the western part of the State. In September, 1879, at the annual session of the Supreme Council, Thirty-third degree, for the North- ern Jurisdiction of the United States, held at the city of Philadelphia, the thirty-third and last degree was conferred upon him as an honorarium, in recognition of his ser- vices and zealous devotion in the walks of masonry, and especially in the " Scottish Rite." Again, in September, 1888, the Supreme council crowned him an Active member, and at the same session elected him deputy for the State of New York; again, in 1891,was re-elected deputy for State of New York. The organization of Masonic Veterans of Lockport was the result, largely, of his individual efforts, and of this body he was chosen first president, and still holds the office. The possession of rank, wealth and power is the result of chance or accident, or the special gift of the providential deity called Fortune. But there is no ground for these assertions in this instance, for it must be recognized that the man shaped and moulded his circumstances, and that judg- ment, foresight and determined purpose, together with the due exercise of intelligent reason, and not blind chance, raised him to wealth and honors. No better illustration of a self-made man can be found in bio- graphical annals. Though possessed of wealth, he prefers hard work to idleness, and finds his greatest pleasure, not in per- sonal enjoyment, but in the happiness he can bring to others.
A NDREW JACKSON BAKER, a produce dealer of Middleport, is a son of Alden S. Baker and Elizabeth W. Baker,
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and was born in Middleport, Niagara county, New York, January 6, 1828. He was mar- ried June 14, 1854, to Orrill L. Smith, of Homer, Cortland county, New York. Orrill L. Smith was born in Morrisville, Madison county, New York, July 6, 1827. To them were born five children, two sons and three daughters.
Hon. Alden Sprague Baker (father) was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, November 10, 1799, and emigrated to the State of New York in 1816. He married Elizabeth Wanton Wickham, at Sodus Point, Wayne county, New York, in 1823, and settled in Middleport in 1824. Elizabeth Wanton Wickliam was born December 22, 1803, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To them were born eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. Alden S. Baker died March 13, 1878. His widow, three daugh- ters, and four sons survive him.
SIMEON TUCKER CLARK, A. M.,
M. D., one of Lockport's leading physicians, and a man of seientific and literary attainments, was born in the town of Canton, Massachusetts, October 10, 1836, the son of Rev. Nathan S. and Laura S. (Swift) Clark. His paternal aneestry is traced back to one of the Pilgrim Fathers, John Clark, who came over in the May- flower, on which he was chained for a time, for some act of insubordination, but was speedily released, as he was an excellent navigator whose services eould not be easily dispensed with in steering along an un- known coast. From John Clark was de- seended Robert Clark, whose son, Presby Clark, was the grandfather of Dr. Clark. Presby Clark was a native of Massachusetts, where he followed ship-earpentering until
DR. S. T. CLARK.
he became deaf from caulking vessels, and was married to Rebecca Sears, by whom he had four sons and five daughters. One of the sons, Rev. Nathan S. Clark (father), was born in Rochester, Massachusetts, in 1806, and died at Millville, New York, in 1872. He served as a minister in the Methodist church for over forty years, was treasurer of the town of Marion, and, during the years 1847, 1848, and 1849 distinguished himself in the legislature of Massachusetts, of which body he was then a member, by successfully urging several very important measures. His first wife was Laura S., daughter of Benjamin Swift, (maternal grandfather,) of Wareham, Massachusetts, who was a moulder and farmer, and who married Mehitable Stevens, who bore him two sons and one daughter. Rev. N. S. Clark, by his first marriage, had two chil- dren: Dr. Simeon T. and Sarah L., now dead, and after the death of Mrs. Clark, married for his second wife Mrs. Harriet Kilborn, of Spencerport, New York.
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Dr. Clark attended the common schools of Massachusetts, and fitted for the sopho- more class in Amherst college at Sippican seminary. About this time he aeeepted a flattering proposition to teach in Oxford Normal institute, Maine, where he remained for one year. He then (1858) eonimenced the study of medicine in Castleton Medical college of Vermont, which he left the next year to enter Berkshire Medieal college, from which latter institution he was grad- uated November 20, 1860. After gradua- tion he commenced the practice of his profession at West Dennis, Massachusetts, where he also was principal of an academy. In November, 1861, he came to Lockport, where he has been in active and successful practice ever since.
On November 28th, 1857, he united in marriage with Ruth J., daughter of Ezra J. Mendall, of Marion, Massachusetts. To their union have been born two children: Mina C., who married Angus C. Bissell, now employed in the United States customs de- partment at New York city, and has one child, Ruth; and Nathan M., who, having read law with Judge Millar and Hon. J. E. Pound, was admitted to the bar in 1891, and is now a member of the law firm of Pomroy & Clark, Lockport, New York.
In 1866 Dr. Clark received the degree of Master of Arts from Genesee college; and in 1886 the " Ad Eundum" degree of M.D. was conferred upon him by Niagara univer- sity at Buffalo, of which institution lie has been professor of medical jurisprudence since 1885. He has always been a democrat in polities, and is a member of Grace Pro- testant Episcopal church of Lockport, of which his entire family are members. He has been an active Free Mason for many years, and is a past master of Red Jacket
Lodge and past grand steward of the Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. of New York, as well as having held various positions in the orders of Foresters and Elks, of which he is a member. While giving assidnous at- tention to an extensive practice, and holding high rank as a writer on medical jurispru- dence, he has found time to pursue the study of the sciences. He has aeted for some years as corresponding secretary of the Jewett Scientific society, and is recorded" in the Naturalist's Directory as a concholo- gist. Dr. Simeon T. Clark has written considerable poetry, which has appeared in many of the leading magazines, and has been eopied extensively in the American newspapers and anthologies, while his Ma- sonie poems have given him a trans-Atlantic reputation.
JOHN NOBLE. It has been truly said that Death has at all times to claim his own, but never more unexpected was any of his calls than when he suddenly summoned John Noble from the scene of his labors in Lockport, October 25, 1890. He was born at Bampshire, in the north of Scotland, June 5, 1841, and received his education in the Scottish schools of that day. As a boy he was remarkable for his pluck and energy, and at an early age learned the trade of baker, which he followed until 1866, when he came to Lockport, where he purchased Charles Carnall's bakery on Cottage street. With his aceustomed energy he soon built up the extensive and prosperous business which he was conducting at the time of his sudden and unexpected death in 1890. He was a member of Lockport Council, No. 307, Royal Arcanum, Columbia Lodge, No. 20, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and
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the Knights of Honor, and the Royal Tem- plars. At the time of his death he left two brothers, William and Alexander, and two sisters, Mrs. David Jones and Mrs. James Cornie.
On June 13, 1877, Mr. Noble married Libbie M. Scofield. To Mr. and Mrs. Noble were born five children, three sons and two daughters : John Horace, Edith May, Albert Garfield, Libbie Scofield, and Raymond Myers. Mrs. Noble is a pleasant and amia- ble lady, and resides in the handsome brick residence on Chestnut street, which was erected by Mr. Noble in 1884. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which she is never neglectful of any move- ment for the good of religion or the moral improvement of the community. She is a daughter of John D. Scofield, a native of Huddersfield, near Leeds, England, who came in 1859 to Lockport, where he en- gaged successfully in the cloth manufactur- ing business, which he had learned in Eng- land. He was a Presbyterian, a republican, and a strong temperance man, who never tasted liquor, and who was highly esteemed by all with whom he came in contact. Mr. Noble was greatly interested in the Young Men's Christian Association, to which he gave liberally up to the time of his death, which occurred June 8, 1888, when he was in the sixty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Scofield was married on October 20, 1855, to Miss E. Myers, who was born in 1831, is a member of the Presbyterian church, and resides now with her daughter, Mrs. Noble.
John Noble was physically very strong, and could do the work of two ordinary men. He was apparently in the best of health when, on the evening of October 25, 1890, he walked into his Pine street store,
where he fell suddenly dead while convers- ing with a lady customer. The post-mortem examination revealed that he suffered from hyperthropy, or enlargement of the heart, and the sudden bursting of one of the large blood vessels of the left auricle had caused his death. His remains were placed in a beautiful casket in his parlor, where hun- dreds of citizens and friends of the family came to view all that was mortal of stout, honest, and warm-hearted John Noble. The different organizations of which he was a member attended in a body the funeral, which was held on Tuesday, October 28, 1890, at two o'clock, at the family residence on Chestnut street, after which the remains were interred in Glenwood cemetery.
The Lockport Journal, speaking of Mr. Noble's sudden death, said : " The city loses, in the death of John Noble, one of its foremost and progressive citizens. In both public and private walks of live he was an indomitable worker. A jovial, pleasant man, his society always lent a pleasure to every gathering. In his home life he was greatly beloved. His success in business and other enterprises, as well as his death, was due to his great capacity for work. He was an earnest christian, and a member and trustee of East avenue Congrega- tional church, which organization has lost one of its founders and strongest pillars. In good and charitable deeds he was fore- most, and many remember, with tears and sorrow, to-day, the kind heart of John Noble in their troubles." Popular, gener- ous, and sympathetic, he had won a large circle of friends and admirers, when the Master's summons came so swiftly and un- expectedly to call him, in the very prime of life, from the field of his active and useful labors.
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