USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 40
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D
AVID PHILLIPS, an active and
prominent business man, and the lead- ing contractor and builder of Niagara Falls, is the son of Paul and Mary (Davis) Phil- lips, and was born on September 18, 1836, in South Wales, kingdom of Great Britain. His grandfather, David Phillips, was a na- tive of Wales, and came of ancient Welshi stock. His maternal grandfather, Thomas Davis, was also born in Wales, where he lived and died. Paul Phillips (father) was born there in the year 1812, and emigrated to America in 1839, locating at Floyd, Oneida county, this State, where he still lives, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He is a farmer by occupation, a republican in politics, and was an outspoken opponent of slavery. In religion he is a congrega- tionalist, and takes an active interest in all that pertains to his church. He married Mary Davis, and to them were born eight children : John, who enlisted in his coun- try's service upon the first call for troops in 1861, as a private, was promoted, and killed in the second battle of Bull Run; Thomas, who studied divinity, and is now a congre- gational minister at Sheridan, Ohio; Da- vid, subject of this sketch ; and five others, who died in infancy.
David Phillips received his education in the common ' schools and the seminary at Rome, this State, and after leaving school learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, at which he served an apprenticeship of five years. In 1855 he came to Suspension Bridge, where he lived and worked at his trade for three years. He removed to Ni- agara Falls in 1858, and in 1861 became a member of the firm of Phillips & Wright, contractors and builders, which did a flour- ishing business until January, 1868, when it was dissolved. After this Mr. Phillips car-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ried on the business of builder and general contraetor in his own name, taking large eontraets, ineluding stone work, excavations, ete., and ereeting some of the largest mills at Niagara Falls, among them being the mammoth brewery and Sehoellkopf mills. His suceess has kept paee with the prosper- ity of the village. A large number of the substantial structures ereeted here in the last quarter of a century are in some meas- ure the result of his handiwork, and show the aceuracy and skill he has acquired in his ehosen voeation. Orpheus Park theatre and the new Episcopal church building are fine examples of his ability and talent as a builder.
In addition to his business as eontraetor 'and builder, Mr. Phillips is connected with numerous other enterprises in the town. He is president of the Glazed Paper Com- pany, which was organized and commenced operations in July, 1891, and which has a capacity of about ten tons daily. He is also connected with the Niagara Paper Company, and is a director in the Cataract Savings bank.
David Phillips has been twiee married, his first wife being A. B. Marion, by whom he had two children : Mary, married Frank W. Oliver, who is engaged in the hardware business with his father-in-law; and Otis, married Lizzie Fernst, and is engaged in the hardware and plumbing business with his father. Mr. Phillips' seeond marriage was to Margaret Glassford, of Niagara Falls.
In politics Mr. Phillips is an original re- publiean, having voted for John C. Fremont, the first candidate of that party for the presidency. He is deeply grounded in the tenets of his party, and has served his people as a member of the board of trustees, and in the spring of 1891 was elected president of
the village. He is a member of Niagara Frontier Lodge, No. 132, Free and Aeeepted Masons. As a business man he has made an enduring mark, and he is a genial, in- telligent, cultivated gentleman whom his friends and fellow citizens highly honor and esteem.
C HARLES N. OWEN, proprietor of the
hotel Atlantique, and a genial and pop- ular citizen of Niagara Falls, is a son of Robert and Maria (Slocum ) Owen, and was born October 26, 1846, in the village of Perry, Wyoming county, New York. The Owens are of Welsh stock, the grandfather and great-grandfather both living and dying in Wales. Robert Owen (father) was also born there, in 1809, and emigrated to Ameriea with his unele, Evan Owen, when only eleven years of age. His unele settled in Herkimer county, and while yet a lad Robert Owen began making his own way in the world. He learned the trade of harness making at Remsen, this State, and worked at the business a number of years in that village. He afterwards removed to Perry, Wyoming county, and from there to Niagara county about 1850, settling at Ransomville, where he died in 1883. In polities he was a republican, and married Maria Sloeum, a daughter of Samuel Slocum, of Remsen, by whom he had seven children : George, who enlisted in the 21st New York infantry early in the eivil war and served until his health failed, and now resides at Ransom- ville, this eounty; Elizabeth, residing at home; Jefferson, a soldier in the civil war, who served as one of General Mcclellan's body guard for thirty days, and is now deceased ; Sidney, who was a niekel-plater and machinist of the eity of Brooklyn, where he died in October, 1890; Samuel,
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
who enlisted in the 23d New York artillery, in 1861, and was killed at Newberne, North Carolina; Charles N., and Alonzo, who died young.
Charles N. Owen was educated in the common schools of this State, and after completing his studies learned the trade of harness maker, and worked at the bench for twenty-eight years. In 1884 he removed to Niagara Falls, and has been in the hotel business nearly ever since. He built Owen's rink and run it about two years. In May, 1890, he assumed charge of the well-known and popular hotel Atlantique, and continues to act the part of host, ever welcoming the coming guest and personally seeing that all creature comforts are supplied his numer- ous patrons.
On February 22, 1871, Mr. Owen was united in marriage with Josephine S. Mc- Donald, and to this union was born six children : Robert, Bessie, Ida, Sidney, Harry, and Paul. Mrs. Owen's father, Charles Mc- Donald, was a native of Scotland, and emigrated to America when quite young and located at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he lived for a number of years. He now resides at St. Louis, Michigan. At one time he was an oil speculator, but is now engaged in the livery business. He first married Betsy Barnes, daughter of Thomas Barnes, of Cambria, this county, by whom he had four children : William, who resides at Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and is en- gaged in the express business; Josephine, wife of the subject of this sketch ; Frank, a tobacco and cigar dealer in Chicago; and George, in business at Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Charles MeDonald married for his second wife Alice Morriston, and to them three children were born : Wallace, a farmer at Mount Pleasant, Michigan ; Lynn,
also a farmer, and resides at the same place ; and Carrie, married a Mr. Palmer, and lives at Versailles, Cattaraugus county, New York.
In political sentiment Mr. Owen is a republican, and generally votes his party ticket, though he is inclined to be liberal and broad-minded and is not a bitter par- tisan. He and his family are regular attendants on the services of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is genial and pleas- ant in disposition, and while very prosperous in his business, has won the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens and a great host of friends by his personal worth and sterling character.
JOHN FOOTE, M. D., one of the older and highly esteemed physicians of the city of Lockport and Niagara county, is a son of Lemuel T. and Lucy ( Clark ) Foote, and was born in the town of Greenwich, Washington county, New York, May 22, 1828. The Foote and Clark families are both of English descent. Lemuel T. Foote was a native of Connecticut, where he learned the trade of shoemaker. He re- moved, soon after his marriage, to Wash- ington county, which he left in 1832 to settle in the town of Royalton, this county, where he resided until his death in 1855, when in the seventy-third year of his age. He was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and a useful citizen in his community. He was a democrat in early life but afterwards became a republican, and served as postmaster in the town of Royal- ton for many years. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, on the northern frontier, and married Lucy Clark, a native of Massa- chusetts, and a daughter of Reuben Clark (maternal grandfather), who was born in
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
one of the New England States, and served as a soldier in one of the Continental armies during the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Foote was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and passed away in 1863, when in the seventy-fourth year of her age.
At four years of age, John Foote was brought by his parents to the town of Royalton, where he spent his boyhood days and received his education in the public schools and Royalton academy. Leaving school he made choice of medicine for a life pursuit, and entered the office of Dr. Peter P. Murphy, then practicing physician of the town of Royalton. After completing the required course of reading, he entered the Medical university of the city of Buf- falo, New York, from which well-known institution he was graduated in the spring of 1851. On May 1st of the same year he opened an office for the practice of his pro- fession at Pekin, this county, where he met with such good success that he remained there for fourteen years, and then only left in March, 1865, to secure a wider field of practice in Lockport, and to avoid the large amount of riding which he was compelled to do at Pekin, in all kinds of weather and at all hours of the day and night.
On April 16, 1851, he married Harriet Verplank Larzalere, of this county, who died in 1855, and left two children, both daughters, one of whom, Mrs. Harriet Green, of Michigan, is still living. On December 17, 1857, Dr. Foote united in marriage with Mary Jane Scott, of Cambria. By his second marriage he has four child- ren, one 'son and three daughters : Dr. Edgar J., a graduate of Buffalo Medical university, and now practicing with his father ; Melvina, Jennie A., and Edna.
Dr. Foote is a republican in politics, and
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. After he was graduated and had practiced for five years he took a post- graduate course at Jefferson Medical col- lege of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Niagara county medical society, takes a deep interest in the advance- ment and improvement of his chosen pro- fession, and enjoys an extensive and re- munerative practice in Lockport and the surrounding country.
p ASCHAL S. HUMPHREY is a prom- inent business man of the State of New York, and belongs to one of the oldest and best known families of the earlier days of the republic. He is the son of Paschal and Martha (Pearcy ) Humphrey, and was born in Tonawanda July 28, 1851. His paternal grandfather, Smith Humphrey, was born in Rhode Island, and removed to Rome, in the State of New York, but died in Toronto, Canada, where he resided at the time of his decease. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. The family first settled in the State of Massachusetts, in the town of Weymouth, and were residents of this country before the Revolution. Paschal Humphrey, the father of Paschal S., was a native of Rome, New York, and came to Tonawanda in 1846, where he resided continually to the time of his decease, which was on February 10, 1890, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a contractor and builder by occupation, and had the reputation of being an active, reliable business man. He was a republican in politics, and a real partisan, believing in the party and its principles as being adapted and best suited to govern the country. He was a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a zealous,
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
active one, fully believing in all its tenets and cardinal doctrines, and always claimed for it much credit for the good it accom- plished in seeking after people and bringing them into the church fold. The mother of Paschal S. Humphrey is a native of County Down, Ireland. She now resides in Tona- wanda, and is in the seventy-seventh year of her age. She, like her husband, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is devoted to its best interests.
Paschal S. Humphrey was brought up in Tonawanda, where he received his education in the public schools, and after leaving school, became engaged in book-keeping in the State of Michigan for a period of two years, at the expiration of which time he returned to Tonawanda, and accepted a position as bank clerk in the banking house of Evans & Killmaster, of North Tona- wanda, in which position he continued until 1875, when he embarked in the fire insur- ance business, and is still engaged in it. In 1886 he took into partnership with him George B. Vandervoort. The business is now carried on in the firm name of Hum- phrey & Vandervoort, and they represent more capital than any other insurance firm in this part of New York. He is also en- gaged in the sale and transfer of real estate, and has been quite successful in both branches of business.
Paschal S. Humphrey was married on September 16, 1879, to Mary C., daughter of Edward Evans, of North Tonawanda. From this marriage were born three sons and one daughter: Sherwood S., Pauline L., Lawrence P., and Pearcy Evans. Mr. Humphrey was a collector of customs for five years, and town and village clerk for one terin. He is one of the directors of the Niagara Vinegar and Cider works; also a
director of the Tonawanda Gas Company, and a director of the Lumber Exchange bank. Mrs. Paschal S. Humphrey is a member of the Christian church, and Mr. Humphrey, while not a member of any church, attends the Christian church. He is devoted to his family, and to his business, and enjoys an enviable business reputation. He is a republican in politics, and is active and aggressive. He believes in the prin- ciples of the party and is proud of its history. He is appreciated by his neigh- bors, and has held various positions of honor and trust. He is a party man, of the Jacksonian type, believing that "to the victors belong the spoils," and we can safely say, that he has many people to share this idea of American politics.
C HARLES HICKEY, a resident of Lockport, and one of the younger mem- bers of the Niagara county bar, is of Irish parentage, and was born in the town of Somerset, Niagara county, New York, April 18, 1857. He is one of a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters, eight of whom are living: Michael, a resident of Michigan, who served as a soldier in the Federal army during the late civil war, and was promoted to the rank of orderly ser- geant; John, a traveling salesman for a commercial house, and who makes his home in Lockport; Ella, wife of William Hooper ; Mary, a teacher in the public schools of Lockport; Charles, the subject of this sketch ; Lawrence, of Michigan; and Elvira and Elmira, the former of whom is the widow of Myron Pallister, and the latter, the wife of Marcus Hazel, of Michigan.
Charles Hickey was reared in the town of Somerset, where he was born. While yet
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
a child, his father died without means, and since he was ten years of age, he has been wholly dependent upon his own exertions for a living. From ten to sixteen he worked by the month as a farm hand. He then spent two years of rugged life in the lumber camps of Michigan. Railroading next received his attention, and for a year he worked with a shovel on the grade and gravel trains of the R., W. & O. R. R. His education was substantially all acquired in the Lockport Union school after he attained his majority. At the close of his school days he made choice of the profession of law as his life vocation, and entered the law office of the Hon. John E. Pound, of Lock- port. While pursuing his legal studies, he taught school to clear his expenses, and was honored in that line by being made presi- dent of the Niagara county teachers' association, which position he held for two years. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1884, and in September of the following year opened an office in the city of Lockport, where he has been in success- ful practice until the present time.
On November 25, 1886, Mr. Hickey was united in marriage with Frances C. Lan- bert, daughter of John Lambert, of Lock- port. To their union have been born two children, a son and a daughter: Alice M., and Charles L.
In politics Mr. Hickey is a republican. He was elected justice of the peace in Lockport, which office he held but a short time and then resigned it to give full atten- tion to his rapidly increasing law practice. ITe is a member of Niagara Lodge, No. 375, Free and Accepted Masons ; Cataract Lodge, No. 54, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Lockport Lodge, No. 41, Order of Elks. . Perseverance is a great factor in success,
and Mr. Hickey, by persistent effort and energy, has triumphed over many obstacles, and won honorable standing in his chosen profession.
JAMES ARMITAGE, a native of the old and a resident of the new world, is the president of the Armitage-Herschell Company, of North Tonawanda, whose en- gines and machinery are used in many States of the Union. He was born in Lanca- shire, England, on March 9, 1842, and is a son of David and Martha (Glover ) Armit- age. His parents were both natives of Yorkshire, England, where Mrs. Armitage died in 1860, when in the fifty-fourth year of her age. Four years later David Armit- age came to Cheektowaga, in Erie county, where he died in 1870, aged sixty-four years. Ile was a good farmer, a quiet, sober, steady man, and a consistent member of the "Church of England," or Protestant Episcopal church. IIe was a well read and well informed man, and became a republican in politics after coming to this country. He was a farmer by occupation, both in England and the United States, and while a quiet man, yet was firm-willed and unyielding in what was right or just.
James Armitage grew to manhood in his native land, where he received his education principally in night schools, as his time during the day was given to learning the trade of machinist. He served an appren- ticeship of five years, and at an early age commeneed life for himself. After working at his trade in England he came, when but twenty-two years of age, in 1864, with his father to this country, and accepted employ- ment as a machinist in the Vulcan iron works, of Buffalo, New York. At the end
Jannes ammontager
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
of six years he went to Black Rock, this State, but shortly beeame foreman of the machine shops of Dr. John Krahbiel, of Williamsville, Erie county, and when his last employer failed, during the latter part of 1872, he and Mr. Allan Hersehell, George C. Herschell, and George A. Gillies, pur- chased the larger part of the machinery when it was sold, and removed it to North Tonawanda, where they started a small machine shop. After running very suecess- fully for two years or more, these works were partly destroyed at two different times by fire, and George A. Gillies re- tiring from the business, the others then commenced the erection and equipment of the present plant, located on Oliver street, North Tonawanda. It was a time to try old established business enterprises, let alone new ventures, for the panie of 1873 was wrecking thousands of business men throughout the United States, and sweeping away in a day the honest earnings of years of hard labor. With want, distress, and lack of confidence in every avenue of trade and every channel of commerce, with failing banks and crashing firms, and the sheriff's hammer falling in every village, town, and city, it was a most unpropitious time for any one to attempt to found a business when money was almost impossible to be secured and eredit seemed entirely banished from the land. Yet in such a dark hour Mr. Armitage inaugurated his business upon a sınall seale, and through innumerable diffi- culties held his way until financial prosperity again dawned upon the land after six years of distress such as will never be forgotten in this country, whose history will reeord the panie of 1873 as one of the most disas- trous periods in the life of the American republic. By close attention to business,
and a thorough appreciation of the wants of his patrous, rapid growth characterized his establishment and trade, and in due time his small machine shop developed into the complete and thoroughly equipped plant which the company now owns on Oliver street. Year after year the volume of their business has kept increasing until now they have orders from every part of New York. the adjacent States, the great west, and the Dominion of Canada. The fitting up of this extensive plant, which covers nearly one aere of ground, is in keeping with the known enterprise of Mr. Armitage and his partners, and every modern improvement has been introdueed which is calculated to add to the durability and perfect finish of their work. Nearly one hundred men are employed, most of whom are skilled me- chanics, and a very superior order of work is turned out from every department. Their steam engines and boilers, marine, milling. and agricultural machinery of all kinds, bear a high reputation and maintain a high standard of excellence, and as a natural consequence the company receives extensive and merited recognition. The plant and grounds are fully deseribed in the sketch of Allan Herschell, the vice-president of the company, in another place in this volume.
March 14, 1870, he united in marriage with Kate Murray, of Buffalo, New York. To their union have been born two sons aud five daughters: Martha G., George B., a bright and promising young man of seven- teen years of age when he died, April 22, 1890; James, Elizabeth, Jessie, Teressa (died in 1882), and Anna.
James Armitage and all of his family are members of the North Tonawanda Metho- dist Episcopal church, in which he has been a steward for several years. He is a mem-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ber of Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a pro- hibitionist, and has served two terms as one of the trustees of his village. Mr. Armitage is a member and director of the Tonawanda Standard Natural Gas Company, which he was largely instrumental in organizing. Mr. Armitage is one of North Tonawanda's most progressive citizens, and his business and exertions have contributed materially to the village's prosperity, while he has been ever noted for fair dealing and integrity, and has achieved a success as well merited as it has been seldom attained.
G EORGE C. HERSCHELL, a member
and the treasurer of the well-known Armitage-Herschell Company, was born at Leeys Mill, Forfarshire, Scotland, Deeen- ber 2, 1848, and is a son of John and Jessie (Christie ) Herschell. The Scoth element of American population, although few in numbers, yet has stamped its high character alike upon the past history and the present institutions of this country. The Scotch have always ranked as a hardy, moral, and fearless people, who have preserved in the new world the lofty spirit of independence which they inherit from their forefathers in the highlands of Scotland. History records of them that they have always been strong- willed and self-reliant, and are distinguished for intelligence, morality, prudence, patient industry, and honest thrift. For nearly two centuries a small but steady stream of emi- gration has poured into the present territory of the United States from different parts of Scotland, and in 1870, among those who came from Forfarshire, Scotland, was John Herschell (father). He settled in Buffalo,
this State, and two years later removed to North Tonawanda, where he lias continued to reside ever since. He was a prosperous coal merchant and general contractor in Scotland, and after coming to western New York, was engaged in different lines of business until a few years ago, when he re- tired from all active business pursuits. He married Jessie Christie, of his native land, who passed away in 1880, and whose re- mains lie entombed in Sweeney's cemetery at North Tonawanda. To them were born in their Scottish home thirteen children, of whom seven sons and three daughters are living, and are to-day carving out their own fortunes in different parts of the world. The three daughters, Mary Ann, Matilda, and Agnes, are the wives respectively of James White of Lambertville, Fred Han- over of Trenton, New Jersey, and David Wallace of North Tonawanda. The sons devoted themselves to business pursuits, and have founded homes for themselves from the tropical regions of the "Dark Conti- nent" and the "Island World" of East Indian waters to the temperate zone of the United States. James and Richard went to Australia, where the former now owns and conducts five wholesale grocery houses, and has his place of residence in the growing city of Melbourne; while the latter has a large boot and shoe house in Sandhurst. The third son, Alexander, is the superin- tendent of a large factory in Africa, while William is a coal merchant and contractor in Dundee, Scotland. The other three sons came to the United States, where John became foreman of the railroad shops at Huntingburgh, Indiana, which position he still holds ; and Allan ( whose sketeh appears in this volume), and George C., became residents of North Tonawanda, and mem-
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