USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 38
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classical speaker in the commission, not given to long speeches, but believing in the motto multum in parvo, so condenses his views as to make them at onee forcible and pleasing."
In 1873 Mr. Davis was prominently men- tioned for the office of attorney-general of the State, and in the same autumn he once more received the nomination of his party for judge of Niagara county. In 1874 he was a prominent eandidate for the nomina- tion for lieutenant-governor of New York, being supported by many influential and leading journals throughout the State, but when the convention assembled it showed a disposition to nominate a "liberal," and Mr. Davis withdrew from the contest and re- fused to allow his name to be used before the convention. In 1878 he was nominated for congress in the thirty-first New York district, and ran largely ahead of his ticket. In June, 1883, he received the appointment of county judge from President Cleveland, then governor of the State, and ably dis- charged the duties of this position until January 1, 1884. In the autumn of 1883 he again received the democratic nomina- tion for judge of Niagara county, and at the polls was given a very large and flattering vote by his fellow citizens without regard to party, although the great majority against his party in the county could not be over- come.
On February 16, 1859, Judge Davis was united in marriage to Waittie Griffen, daughter of Isaac Griffen, and to this union were born six children: Waittie, Mary O. (deceased), Pauline S., Blanche (deceased), Grace Relyea, and Florence Dale. Isaac Griffen (father-in-law ) was born at the city of Hudson, this State, on the historic and pieturesque river of that
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name, where he passed most of his life, only coming to Niagara county about a year pre- vious to his death in 1852. He married Jane Hardwick, and had a family of three children who grew to maturity : Theodore and Cornelius, now dead, and Julia, yet living.
Judge Davis was a prominent member of the Episcopal church, and widely known in connection with his contributions of time and means toward the advancement of church interests. During the civil war he was actively engaged in recruiting troops for the army, and assisted Colonel Porter in recruiting and mustering his command. He dicd December 8, 1891. As a lawyer he was a specialist in the line of advocacy, and was entrusted with and tried cases for the attorney-general of the State. He was an eloquent and forcible speaker, a close and logical reasoner, and at times his impas- sioned pleading reached such heights that judge, jury, and spectators were alike car- ried away on the stream of his eloquence, and great legal victories won. He died in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and in the very zenith of his well-earned popularity and famc.
JOHN J. B. SPOONER, of Lockport,
the present clerk of the board of super- visors of Niagara county, whose efficiency in that position is attested by his retention in office for several years by the party to which he is opposed in political belief, is a son of Judge Alden and Margaret (Jer- maine) Spooner, and was born in the city of Brooklyn, New York, February 20, 1820. On his maternal side the Jermaines were one of the old and respected families of Long Island, where at Sag Harbor his
grandfather, John Jermaine, was born and passed his life. He married Margaret Peir- son, and to them were born four sons and three daughters, of whom several became highly respected residents of New York city. These children are all dead now cx- cept Margaret, who married Joseph Slocum, and one of whose daughters is the wife of Russel Sage, the great financier, who so narrowly escaped death lately in New York city at the hands of a dynamite bomb thrower. On his paternal side, Judge Alden Spooner, his father, was a native of Ver- mont, and removed to Brooklyn, New York, where he died. He was editor and publisher for many years of the Long Island Star, which was among the early papers of the city of Brooklyn. He was a whig and republican in politics, served one term as surrogate of Kings county, and married Margaret Jermaine, who died and left a family of five sons and three daughters, of whom four sons and two daughters are dead. After his first wife's death, Judge Spooner married Mary Ann Wetmore, of Brooklyn, by whom he had one child, Catherine, who is the wife of Joshua Wil- bur, a druggist of Lockport.
John J. B. Spooner was taken at an early age to Tecumseh, Michigan, and received his education in the schools of that place. Leaving school, he established, in 1840, the Harrisonian, which paper he published and edited at Tecumseh until he removed to · Jonesville, that State, where he continued the paper under the name of the Expositor. In 1841 he quit journalism to accept a responsible position in the. State treasury department of Michigan, in Detroit, which he held till a change in the political control of the State, and in 1843 came to Niagara county, where he followed merchandising
B
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for three years. At the end of that time he became a clerk and cashier in a bank, in which he served until 1860. In that year he was elected as clerk of the republican board of supervisors of Niagara county, and has served for twenty-five years in that capacity. The office which he holds is a responsible one in a county like Niagara, and requires business ability and close ap- plication on the part of its incumbent who would be successful and render satisfaction to the public.
In June, 1841, he married Mary Brewer. Their children are : Sarah J .; Mary E., wife of Frank Dodge, of Texas; Laura C., mar- ried to Prof. Edward Baillott, teacher of French in Bloomington, Indiana; George A., a bookseller and stationer in Leaven- worth, Kansas; and Charles E., a book- keeper in a railroad office at Scdalia, Missouri.
Popularity is often evanescent, and to be lasting must be founded upon substantial success. Mr. Spooner has acquired popu- larity by persistent labor and merited sue- cess, and no routine, discipline, or labor has ever drawn him from his work.
H ON. WILLIAM POOL, a leading journalist, politician, and business man of Niagara Falls, is the son of Thomas F. and Fannie (Sutherland) Pool, and was born May 15, 1825, in Lewiston, Niagara county, New York. His grandfather, Achish Pool, was a native of Massachusetts, and came to Niagara county, this State, in 1811, settling in Lewiston on a farm pur- chased from the old Holland Land Company. Here he lived a quiet and peaceful life, un- interrupted except by the excitement of the war of 1812 and accompanying Indian
depredations. He crected a hotel on the old State road and conducted it for a num- ber of years. He married Susan Hersey, of castern New York, by whom he had a family of three sons. Thomas F. (father) was born in Abington, Massachusetts, on November 4, 1800, came to Niagara county with his father in 1811, and was reared and lived all his life on the old homestead. He was a whig in politics, but later became a republican, yet never aspired to office and was content with discharging the simple duties of good citizenship. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and careful and conscientious in the discharge of religious duty. He married Fannie Suther- land, who was a native of Vermont, born at Sutherland Falls, in the house which is now owned by ex-secretary of war Proctor. By this marriage he had a family of five sons and two daughters : William, subject of this sketelı; Susanna, married Samuel Town- send, who lives on the old homestead in Lewiston: Andrew S., formerly a farmer, but now living in the city of Buffalo, this State; Thomas C., lives in Lockport, and is a wagon and carriage dealer; Mary J., who married William H. Shaw, and died in 1833; Frank, died in Lockport; and one died in infancy. Thomas F. Pool married for his second wife Mrs. Maria Cotton, by whom he had two children : Wilbur, who lives on the old homestead, and Hattie, who married Orrin Shippey, a farmer living in the town of Lewiston. Thomas F. Pool died in 1886, aged eighty-six years, but his widow is still living at an advanced age.
William Pool received his education in the common schools of his native county and Genesce Wesleyan seminary at Lima, this State. He was engaged in farming on the old homestead in Lewiston until 1852,
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when he moved into the city of Lockport and secured a position on the Lockport Daily Courier. In 1854 he came to Niagara Falls, and, in connection with Benjamin F. Sleeper, commenced the publication of the Niagara Falls Gazette. This partnership continued until 1864, when Mr. Pool pur- chased his partner's interest in the business and conducted the paper alone until 1880, when he sold it to the present proprietor, P. A. Porter. For the next three years he was principally engaged in settling up his outstanding accounts, but in January, 1884, he and his son, Rupert M. Pool, formed a partnership and established the Niagara Courier, and have edited and published this journal ever since. In politics Mr. Pool was originally a whig, but when the dark clouds of interneeine strife began to gather on the political horizon, he joined the re- publican hosts, and has remained an honored member of that party ever since. He held various offices in the village previous to 1866, in which year he was elected a niember of the State assembly of New York from Niagara county, and served one term, before the expiration of which he was appointed to the postmastership in Niagara Falls, to fill a vacaney; and having served acceptably in that capacity, was re-appointed and com- missioned by President Grant in 1872, and held the position for more than eight years. So efficient and popular was his administra- tion of the office, that for the asking he could have had it a third term. He had served as postmaster at Dickersonville before moving to Lockport. He takes an active and earnest part in the polities of his village, and has served as delegate to many of his party conventions. He was a delegate to the National convention that nominated Hayes for the presidency, attending in the
interest of the imperious Roscoe Conkling. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and also of Niagara Frontier Lodge, No. 132, Free and Accepted Masons.
On December 20, 1848, Hon. William Pool was united in marriage with Wealthy Woolson, daughter of Charles Woolson, a native of Vermont, who came to New York at an early day and settled in Lewiston. This union was blessed by four children, one of whom died in infancy, while three are still living: Rupert M., now in business with his father; George E., a clerk in the freight office of the Hudson River Central railroad; and Helen E.
OSEPH A. WARD, a prominent busi- ness man and journalist of Niagara county, is a son of Abram and Gertrude (Kayner) Ward, and was born March 31, 1832, in Warren, Herkimer county, New York. Aaron Ward (paternal great-grand- father) was a native of Newark, New Jersey, but removed to Herkimer county, where he died. Ile was one of the early pioneers of this county, where he bought a farm, which he cleared and put under cultivation-a valuable tract of land. He was a descendant of John Ward, of English stock, who re- moved from Stonington, Connecticut, to Newark, New Jersey, where he located and died. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Ward, was born in Lansingburg, this State, and came to Herkimer county with his parents, and fron thence to Sweden, Monroe county, where he died. IIe was also a farmer, and married Susanna Brown, whose father served in the Revolutionary war. He took part in the battle of Bennington. To theni were born five children, two sons and three daughters. Abram Ward (father) was born
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in Warren, this State, on June 19, 1808, and died in Warren, Herkimer county, October 1, 1887. He was a farmer by occupation, a republican in politics, taking an active part in the politics of his day, and was a member of the Dutch Reformed church. He mar- ried Gertrude Kayner, a daughter of Jacob Kayner, a native of Hesse Cassel, but who emigrated to this country and settled in Herkimer county. He afterwards came to Niagara County, where he died. By this union there were three children : Joseph A., Susan (deceased), and Mary, who died young.
Joseph A. Ward was educated at Oxford academy, Chenango county, and at Whites- boro, Oneida county. He was reared on the farm, and followed teaching for a time, but in 1864 came to Lockport and entered the Exchange bank as book-keeper and assistant cashier, which position he held for six years. In 1870 he purchased an interest in the Lockport Journal, of which he has been manager ever since. It is a well-known official paper of the county, and of the city of Lockport, and has a wide and grow- ing circulation, and wields an influence that is widely felt. It has, perhaps, been quoted and referred to more than any other paper of the small cities of the State. He has had charge of the business department of the Journal since 1870, and under his good judgment, close application, and in- dustry, it has flourished beyond all reason- able expectation.
In 1857 Mr. Ward was united in marriage with Josephine Cleland, daughter of Willard Cleland, of Herkimer county. Their union has been blessed with three children: Cle- land A., married to Mary F. McQueen, is now a resident of Lockport, where he is en- gaged as a clerk; Jessie A., and Willard M., who is reporter for the Journal.
In politics he is a member of the Repub- lican party, believing in its principles and tenets. He belongs to the Congregational church, in which he is a trustee. He is a member of Niagara lodge, No. 375, Free and Accepted Masons; Ames chapter, No. 88, Royal Arch Masons; and Genesee com- mandery, No. 10, Knights Templar.
JOHN M. LOCHER, proprietor of the Monument House, and a widely known and popular hotel man of Niagara Falls, is a son of Francis and Mary ( Bantle ) Locher, and was born November 5, 1831, in Wur- temberg, Germany. The family is an old German one, and only two of the name are known to have come to America. These were Jolin M. and his brother Matthias, the latter of whom settled at Niagara Falls, where he died some years later.
John M. Locher was educated in the Na- tional schools of Germany, and afterward learned the trade of shoemaker, and worked at that business in the Fatherland until he was twenty-three years of age. He then bid farewell to his people there and started for America, arriving here in the spring of 1854. He worked at his trade for two years, and then visited the copper mines of the Lake Superior regions and engaged in mining for two years. On this trip Mr. Locher went by rail as far as Iowa City, Iowa, which was the capital of the State at that time, and which was the western ter- minus of railway travel in those days. From that point he reached the mining regions by stage. He returned to Niagara Falls in 1859, and engaged in the occupation of a vegetable gardener, which he continued until 1867, when he embarked in the hotel business. In 1889 he erected his present
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hotel at No. 12 Falls street, known as the Monument House. It is a fine brick build- ing, three stories high, and twenty-four feet front by seventy-eight feet deep. He has devoted his entire time to this business since 1867, and is an adept in entertaining the traveling public, on account of which the Monument Hotel is becoming very pop- ular and is well patronized.
In the year 1860, on May 5th, Mr. Locher was married to Caroline Fleck, daughter of Joseph Fleck, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, who emigrated to North Amer- ica and settled at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. To their union has been born a family of seven children, two sons and five daughters. The eldest of these is Sabina, who married J. E. Reiger, professor of music in the Niagara university, and has two chil- dren, Earnest G. and Vera. George M., the second born, is a tailor by occupation, and married Anna Fernier, by whom he has one child, Marguerite, and they live in De- troit, Michigan. The others are Mary, John M., jr., Rose, Frances, and Grace, liv- ing at home with their parents.
Politically, Mr. Locher has always been independent, attaching himself to no party, but voting for the men and measures which in his judgment would best subserve the true interests of the mass of the people. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and is a member of lodge No. 316, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of lodge No. 6, Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a charter member of the Niagara Falls Leidestafel singing society, which was organized in 1864. In his business as hotel proprietor he has been very successful, and as a citizen he stands high in the com- munity, being greatly liked by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
In 1878 Mr. Locher visited his home in Germany, and in 1886 made another visit to the Fatherland.
TOHN McLEAN, a stockholder and sec- retary of the Richmond Manufacturing Company, is a son of William and Janet (McDonald) McLean, and was born in the city of Lockport, Niagara county, New York, June 15, 1851. On both his paternal and maternal sides he is of Scotch descent. His father, William McLean, was born about 1810 in Nairn, Scotland, where he was reared and educated. After starting in life for himself he learned the trade of blacksmith- ing, which he followed for some years in his native land, and then crossed the Atlantic to better his fortunes in the new world. He worked some time near the city of Buf- falo, New York, and then, about 1830, be- came one of the early settlers of Lockport, where he died in 1881, aged seventy-one years. He was a republican in politics, and one of the founders and oldest members, at the time of his death, of the Lockport Pres- byterian church. He married Janet Mc- Donald, who was born in Inverness, Scotland. They were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters: Margaret, wife of Frank Chapman, book-keeper for the Rich- mond Manufacturing Company; Frank, now engaged in blacksmithing; William, vice-president of the Richmond Manufac- turing Company ; John, and Anna. Anna died at twenty-four years of age.
John MeLean was reared in Lockport, and having but poor opportunities for at- tending school, received but a limited edu- cation, which he has supplemented by read- ing until he has become well informed. He commenced life as an errand boy for the
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Holly Manufacturing Company, with whom he remained for ten years, and during the latter part of that time served as a shipping clerk. In 1879 he became correspondent and book-keeper for William Richmond, in which capacity he served until 1881, when the Richmond Manufacturing Company was incorporated and he was elected as its sec- retary, which office he still holds. John McLean is a republican in politics. He is a member of Lodge No. 41, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Lockport is now one of the flourishing manufacturing cities of New York, while every indication exists to warrant her growth to be such that in the future she will become one of the great manufacturing cen- ters of the Empire State. The Richmond Manufacturing Company has its office and salesroom on Gooding street. It employs a force of sixty men, and manufactures grain cleaning machinery and dusters for flour mills, grain elevators, etc.
G EORGE W. POUND, one of the suc- cessful lawyers and progressive young business men of Lockport, was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, January 11, 1865, and is a son of Waterman S. and Ade- laide (McNeil) Pound. The Pound family for several generations have been of the Friends, or Quaker, faith, and its members have been resident in the New England States and New York. Samuel Pound (grandfather) was a native of Ontario county, this State, and came, in 1823, to this county with an ox team. He purchased much of the land upon which the city of Lockport now stands. He was born July 26, 1810, is well preserved for his years, and resides in Lockport, where he is very com-
fortably situated. His son, Waterman S., the father of George W. Pound, was born October 4, 1834, and is now engaged in the clothing business, which he has conducted successfully for several years. He is a prominent citizen of his city, a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and al- though a strong republican, has held the office of canal commissioner for several terms under democratic as well as republi- can administrations in the Empire State. His wife, whose maiden name was Adelaide McNeil, was a daughter of the late Judge MeNeil, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and died February 5, 1888, aged forty-seven years, leaving two children, George W., and Hiram M. Pound, who died January 2, 1891, aged twenty- three years.
George W. Pound grew to manhood in the city of Lockport, where he received his education in the Union school, and where he has resided continuously ever since. He read law with Hon. John E. Pound, was admitted to the bar in 1888, and since then has practiced his profession in Lockport with good success. He is a stirring repub- lican in politics, has served as a delegate to numerous conventions of his party, and is always in demand as a public speaker in county, State, and National campaigns. He is a member of Lockport lodge, No. 41, Order of Elks, the business men's association, the Foresters, Knights of St. John and Malta. He is president of the Sexennial League, and of the Evans memorial library association, and a member of the Lockport "Hooks," besides holding membership in numerous other secret, scientific and benefi- cial organizations. He is the owner of the steam yacht "Jerauld."
On April 18, 1888, he was united in mar-
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riage with Ida Stanthorpe, daughter of George Stanthorpe, of Lockport.
In religious faith Mr. Pound, like all the family, is an Episcopalian, and has been for several years a member of the church of that denomination in Lockport. In addi- tion to his legal practice, Mr. Pound is an enthusiastic student of literature and kin- dred subjects, and has been a frequent con- tribntor to magazines and other publica- tions. He is largely interested in real estate in Lockport and at Wilson, now a popular summer resort on Lake Ontario, which he largely founded, and where he has a sum- mer cottage.
DR. WILLIAM H. WALLACE, a widely known and highly respected business man, now living in retirement at Suspension Bridge, is a son of Luke and Margaret (Partridge) Wallace, and was born September 2, 1823, in Canada. His grandfather, Kerwin Wallace, was a native of Lunenberg, Massachusetts, where he was born April 22, 1759. He was a soldier in the American army during the Revolution- ary war, and afterward drew a pension for his services in that struggle. He removed to Duxbury, Vermont, and served in the legislature of that State for nearly ten years, taking an active part in all political ques- tions. He married Thankful Bennett, and reared a family of ten children, of whom Luke, father of William H., was the fifth, and was born April 22, 1792, in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Following the example of his father, he became one of his country's defenders at an early age, and served as sergeant during the war of 1812. Ten years after the war closed he removed to the island of Prince Edward, Canada, and
engaged in the lumber business, finally drifting into real estate and general trade. Luke Wallace lived for a number of years in Canada, but always retained his citizen- ship in the United States. He was a mem- ber of the Episcopal church, and married Margaret Partridge, of Norwich, Vermont, by whom he had a family of three sons and three daughters, only three of whom are now living: William H., Eliza, married to James Kenof, of Canada, and Margaret.
William H. Wallace received his early education in the common schools of Ver- mont, and in Brownington academy, in that State, and afterward studied medicine, but never practiced much. He was engaged in the drug business for some months at Bran- don, Rutland county, Vermont, but soon sold out and located at Irasburg, where he re- mained five years. In 1854 he came to Suspension Bridge and opened a drug store, and for sixteen years successfully continued it. About 1870 he sold out and located with two of his sons at Bay City, Michigan, where he remained in business for eight years. At the end of that time he retired, and has since been living a quiet and peace- ful life at Suspension Bridge, enjoying the relaxation earned in a protracted and labor- ious business career. He was formerly a whig in politics, but on the organization of the Republican party he ardently embraced its platform and principles, and has taken rather an active part in local politics. He was postmaster at Suspension Bridge under Lincoln's administration, and has served five terms as president of the board of trustees. In religion he is an episcopalian, and has long been an influential and leading mem- ber of that church. He was president of the village, and of the board of water com- missioners for four years immediately after
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