USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
On May 17, 1857, Mr. Brundage was
united in marriage with Mary A. Shepard, daughter of James Shepard, of Niagara Falls. Mr. Shepard was a stone-mason and contractor by occupation, and was born in England. Mrs. Brundage is an intelligent, capable woman, and very popular among her friends and acquaintances.
In his business life Mr. Brundage has been remarkably successful, and is a director and stockholder in the Battery Rapids Com- pany, and vice-president and director of the Miller & Brundage Coach Company, and is interested in other business enterprises in the village. He is a republican in polities, and a firm believer in the principles and policy of his party, though never taking an active part in political campaigns. He is a member of Clifton Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accepted Masons, at Niagara Falls. In- dustry and energy are the corner-stones on which he has built an enviable business career.
JUDGE THEODORE G. HULETT
must be ranked among the worthy men generally known as self-made, and who build " their own monuments of fortune and reputation." He is the youngest son of Anthony and Charlotte ( Curtiss ) Hnlett, and was born in the town of Williamsburgh, Massachusetts, June 13, 1811. His parents had a family of five children, of whom he was the youngest. In 1812 his mother moved to Pittsfield, that State, where she united with a society of Friends, or Quakers. ITis grandfathers were both Revolutionary soldiers -one dying at one hundred and two, and the other at ninety-eight years of age.
At twelve years of age, Theodore G. Hulett resolved to commence life for him-
Judge J. G. Hulett
369
OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
self, and in order to avoid any possible objections upon the part of his mother or his older brothers and sisters, left home at eight o'clock at night. A shirt and a pair of stockings tied up in a bandana handker- chief was the sum of his earthly possessions, beyond the clothing he wore. Resting that night with a farmer, who apprized his mother of his noeturnal journey, he set ont in the morning and was arranging for a situation with the late Jason Clapp, the noted carriage maker of Pittsfield. Before the bargain was completed his mother appeared, but after a consultation completed the arrangement partly made by her ener- getic son and he found himself apprenticed to Jason Clapp for nine years, to learn the trade of a blacksmith, at a salary of fifty dollars per annum, to furnish his own eloth- ing and receive one quarter's schooling. At the end of three years serviees he obtained fifty dollars in advance from his employer, which amount he gave his note for, and proceeded to invest it in a small library, consisting of a bible, Josephus's works, Rollin's ancient history, Murray's grammar, Daboll's arithmetic, Hedge's logic, Telemachus, Tacitus, Plutarch's Lives, Dry- den's Virgil, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Pope's, Pollock's and Milton's poetical works, with quills, ink and paper, costing forty-eight dollars in all. With the remain- two dollars he purchased a box of tallow dip candles for night study. During the last year of his term of service he attended Pittsfield academy for three months. After completing his apprenticeship, he worked for his employer for six months, then was in Albany for four months, and next spent one year in Troy, working in the summer and reading law during the winter. Fron Troy he returned to Pittsfield, where he
worked six months for his employer, and then removed to Buffalo, this State. One year later he eame to Niagara Falls, where after working for two years in the manu- facture of carriage springs and other par- ticular work, he went into business for hin- self. He conducted a large shop until within the last few years, when he retired from active life. In 1847 he was elected superin- tendent of the first suspension bridge across the Niagara river, and built with his own hands the fairy iron basket that hung be- neath the railway suspension bridge, but which is now in the Buffalo Historical society's rooms. In 1849 he constructed the wire suspension bridge across the Mohawk river, between Fonda and Amster- dam. In 1852 he built a wire suspension bridge aeross the Tallapoosa river, in the State of Alabama, and in 1865 he superin- tended the erection of the massive trusses of the new suspension bridge aeross the Niagara, during which time he invented and patented the cast-iron shackle fastenings that secured the cables of the bridge to the anehors. Besides his engineering feats of skill he has taken great interest in the manufacture of gas. In 1870 he rebuilt the naptha gas works at Danville, this State, and the next year built the gas works at Warsaw, New York, while three years later he built the oxyhydric gas light works of Buffalo, on the plans fur- nished by a French engineer. His last great engineering work was in 1873, when he built the wire suspension bridge that spans the Mohawk river and the Eric canal at Finks Ferry, near Little Falls, New York.
In 1832 he married Mercy Amelia Bailey, of Pittsfield, Massachussets. They had three children, only one of whom is
370
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
now living. They have seven grand-chil- dren and six great-grandchildren living.
In 1849 he was elected justice of the peace of the town of Niagara, and by suc- cessive re-elections, held that office for thirty consecutive years, and during that time he served as judge of the courts of sessions and oyer and terminer of the county for two terms. Judge Hulett is faithful to his friends and promises, honor- orable, honest and benevolent, and has always had the highest regard for the rights of others. His business characteristics are good judgment, due caution, energy, perse- verance and watchfulness. He is enthusias- tic and sincere, and has always been dis- tinguished for simplicity in manners and dress, charity, and single-mindedness. One who is personally acquainted with Judge Hulett thus writes of him: "He is re- garded as a sound elementary lawyer, a forcible writer, an able debator and ready public speaker and a skillful and ingenious civil engineer. Looking back over a long life of usefulness-a life devoted to enter- prises of more than ordinary magnitude and public benefit, and largely given up to the welfare of the community in which, by his conspicuous ability, energy and honesty, he has won a home and a competence- it is probable that Judge Hulett sees little to cause regret in his mind for the past, and much to render him happy in the present, and hopeful as to the future."
During the late civil war he was ever active in aiding the cause of the Union, and in thirty days helped raise, equip and lead to the field the 8th regiment of heavy artillery. The fire of his patriotism burned bright, and beside aiding the Union cause in the field, he devised and executed means by which soldiers' families were relieved to the
extent of twenty-eight thousand dollars, without bonding the town or creating an indebtedness, and when the war had closed, he set on foot a move to erect the beautiful soldier's monument which now stands at the foot of Falls street, and which, as presi- dent of the commission of construction, he delivered to the town authorities on Sept- ember 20th of the centennial year. Judge Hulett resides in a beautiful home on First street, where he is surrounded with all the comforts of life, and lives most happily in the enjoyment of the respect and good-will of all who know him.
He is decidedly a universalist in religion, believing that a religion without a founda- tion upon human reason and common sense is a shanı. During the time he served as justice "he issued 6,000 summons, col- lected and paid to litigants $71,034, issued 1,500 criminal warrants, 12,000 subpænas, and performed 220 marriage ceremonies; has filled seven dockets, and used nineteen gallons of ink and 10,000 pens."
His poem, "Three Sister Islands," is a beautifully written one, containing thirty- four stanzas ; also " Darwin's Vision," which is a burlesque poem, is a beautiful com- position. His workshop, where lays on his " table" his first bible, his paints and mechanics, is where he paints, reads and studies ; he can't be idle, is remarkably well preserved, and his faculties all seem to be as bright as a dollar.
As chairman of the board of monument commissioners, he unveiled and delivered the monument to the authorities. The fol- lowing is a sample of his speech at the tinie: "There stands the result of our labors. There stands a sentinel, dressed in the pharaphernalia of war with face to the rising sun, with the gaudy hues of
371
OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
the bow of promise, the silvery spray, tinted with golden threads reflected by the setting sun; the Æolian harps of the water nymphs of Niagara, their siren songs accompanied by the thundering bass of its cataract surrounding thee as with a mantle, yet they attraet thee not. Thy sightless orbs, with a vision of faith, are fixed upon the eastern horizon, waiting, watching for the rising sun of another eentennial morn to dawn upon this happy, united, and pros- perous Republie ; fit emblem of human aspirations for immortality."
D ANIEL C. CARROLL, one of the self- made men of Lockport, and present clerk of the county of Niagara, is a son of Michael and Bridget (Hussee) Carroll, and was born in the city of Lockport, Niagara county, New York, October 27, 1853. His grandfathers, Carroll and Hussee, were na- tives and life-long residents of Ireland. His father, Michael Carroll, was born in the Emerald Isle in 1820, and came to Lock- port in 1848, where he died in 1890. He was engaged in the lumber business from the time of his arrival in western New York until a few years prior to his death. After becoming acquainted with the principles of the United States government, he yielded his support to the Demoeratie party. In religious matters he lived in the faith of his fathers-the teachings of the Catholic church-of which he was a consistent mem- ber and a faithful supporter. He married Bridget Hussee, who was born in Ireland, and five sons and three daughters were born unto them: Owen, who is unmarried, and has been a resident grocer of Lockport for several years; Maria, now deceased; Mi- chael F., who is a machinist, and now in the
employ of the Holly Manufacturing Com- pany ; John (dead), Daniel C., Anna, Ed- ward J., who is engaged in the grocery business with his brother Owen at No. 53 Main street, Lockport, and Margaret F.
Daniel C. Carroll grew to manhood in Lockport, and reeeived his education in the Union school of that city. When about nine years old he became lame, but con- tinned at school when able until he was fourteen, when he began the battle of life, and took his first lessons in democracy as eustodian of the local democratic reading room through the presidential campaign of 1868, and then secured employment as office boy and clerk for Mr. Charles D. Metz, then an attorney at Loekport, and secretary of the demoeratie eounty committee. He con- tinued with Mr. Metz until January, 1872, when he entered the office of Messrs. Mnr- ray & Greene, leading lawyers of Lockport, as clerk, and remained with them until the spring of 1874, when he received the ap- pointment of second elerk in the eanal col- lector's office at Loekport under Mr. George A. Torrance, collector. In 1875 he was appointed first elerk by Mr. William E. Jenney, who had succeeded Mr. Torrance. In the spring of 1876 he secured a position as one of the recording clerks in the county clerk's office, Colonel George L. Moote being then clerk of the county, continuing in that capacity throughout Colonel Moote's term. Mr. Amos W. R. Henning sueceed- ing Colonel Moote as clerk, appointed Mr. Carroll special deputy and assistant search- ing clerk, which positions he faithfully filled until December 21, 1880, when he was elected justice of the peace for the first, third, and fourth wards of the eity of Lock- port, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Hon. John Van Horn; was re-elected
872
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
justice in 1883 for a full term of four years. In November, 1886, he was elected county clerk, having a majority of 862 over his re- publican competitor, William G. Green, and re-elected in 1889, having a majority of 971 over Maurice A. Hager, the republican nominee. He has never been opposed in his party conventions for nomination, and has never been defeated for election.
In politics Mr. Carroll has always been an active, useful, and popular democrat. He has been emphatically the architect of his own fortune, and from almost unknown ob- scurity has slowly but surely won his own way to almost the highest office within the gift of the people of Niagara county at a time when a majority of its voters were in the ranks of the opposition party to his po- litical principles.
On December 15, 1886, Mr. Carroll mar- ried Clara J. Trankle, daughter of Margaret J. Trankle. This union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, Clara, who was born September 9, 1888.
His has been a straightforward, honest, and honorable career, well deserving of the favors he has received from the people of his native county. He is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic church of Lockport.
THOMAS E. McGARIGLE, a well- known machinist and a member of the machine shop firm of MeGarigle & Sweeney, of Niagara Falls, is a son of Charles and Kate (Conway) McGarigle, and was born in the village of Niagara Falls, Niagara county, New York, July 10, 1854. His grandfather, Charles McGarigle, was a native of County Sligo, Ireland, where he lived and died; and there Charles McGarigle (father) was born in 1825. When twenty-one years of
age, he emigrated to America and settled at Niagara Falls, where he is still living, being now in his sixty-seventh year. He is a democrat in politics, and a member of the . Catholic church. He married Kate Conway, daughter of Cornelius Conway, a native of Ireland, who died at Niagara Falls. By this marriage he had a family of nine chil- dren, of whom Thomas E. is the eldest.
Thomas E. MeGarigle received a good common school education in his native village of Niagara Falls, and began life for himself at an early age as an engine wiper for the New York Central railroad. He shortly afterward entered the machine shops of that company at Niagara Falls, and later went to the city of Buffalo, where he com- pleted the trade of machinist. He worked at this trade in Buffalo and Niagara Falls for some time, and for eight or nine years was engineer of the Niagara Falls brewery. In 1891 he formed a partnership with John Sweeney, under the firm name of McGarigle & Sweeney, and purchased the machine shop and business of Philpott & Leuppie. Their present shop is forty feet front by one hundred feet deep, and is fitted up with all modern appliances for doing first-class work. In addition to his machine shops, to which he gives most of his time and attention, Mr. McGarigle has several other business inter- ests in the village.
In political matters he is a democrat, and believes thoroughly in the fundamental principles of that party. He gives his party an active and loyal support, but is not a strong partisan. He served as excise com- missioner for five years, and has been trustec of the village two years, and a member of the fire department for fourteen years, being foreman of Cataract hose com- pany, No. 1, for some time, and afterward
875
OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
of Mayle hose company, No. 2. He has served his party frequently as a delegate to democratie county conventions, and as a local leader has a recognized influence in party councils. He is past chancellor of the Catholic Mutual Benevolent association. In his business career he has been very suc- cessful, and is popular and highly esteemed.
JOHN W. HASKELL, an old soldier of the civil war and a prominent merchant at Youngstown, now serving as postmaster of that village, is a son of Jolm and Margaret (Grey) Haskell, and was born in the town of Porter, Niagara county, New York, De- cember 28, 1834. Daniel Haskell (grand- father) was of English descent, a native of Massachusetts, and served in the American army during the Revolutionary war. He died in Massachusetts. He married and reared a family, among whom was John Haskell (father), who was born in Coopers- town, in the eastern part of New York, about 1808, but removed to Niagara county when a young man and located on a farm in the town of Porter, and received his education in the comnon schools of his neighborhood. In 1862, when twenty-eight years of age, he enlisted in the 19th New York independent battery, and served faith- fully until the close of the great. civil war. He was honorably discharged at Elmira, New York, in 1865, and returned to Youngstown, where he has resided ever since. In 1876 he embarked in the general mercantile business here, and by close attention and careful management has built up a large trade, and now carries a complete stock of general merchandise. He was appointed postmaster at Youngstown under President Arthur's administration, and re-appointed
since Harrison became president, and is now acceptably serving in that capacity.
In 1861 Mr. Haskell was united in mar- riage with Agnes, daughter of John E. Lloyd, of the town of Porter, this county, and to their union have been born seven children, three sons and four daughters: John L., Albert E., Frank W., Antoinette L., Lou M., Leona F., and Lillie E.
In politics Mr. Haskell is a stalwart re- publican, and at one time or another has been honored by his people with an election to about all the village offices, serving in every position with satisfaction to the pub- lie and credit to himself. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and a prominent member of MeCollum Post, No. 228, of the Grand Army of the Republic.
H JON. GARWOOD L. JUDD. One of the champion defenders of democracy and its principles in the Empire State is Hon. Garwood L. Judd, of North Tona- wanda, whose career at the bar and in the halls of legislation has been creditable to himself and beneficial to Niagara county. He is a son of John W. and Comfort (Greenman ) Judd, and was born at Augusta Centre, Oneida county, New York, on In- dependence day, 1823. In 1716 two broth- ers, Noah and Benjamin Judd, left one of the prosperous counties of England to settle in her colonial possessions in North Amer- ica. They came to New England, and in all probability cast in their lots in some of the towns of Massachusetts, as numerous Judd families of their descendants trace their American ancestry back to the Bay State. One of these brothers, Noah Judd. was the great-grandfather of Hon. Garwood L. Judd. We have no record of Noah Judd
376
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
beyond the fact that he was a resident for some time of Watertown, Connecticut, where his son, Michael Judd (grandfather), was born in 1759. Michael Judd, in 1809, re- moved to near Albany, New York, and in 1821 went to Augusta Centre, Oneida county, where he died in 1843 at eighty- four years of age. He was a farmer, and had a good character among his neighbors for honesty, truth, and usefulness. His son, John W. Judd, was born at Water- town, Connecticut, in 1790, and removed in 1821 to Oneida county, this State, where he resided until his deatlı, in 1845, at fifty-five years of age. He was a straight democrat, a member of the Masonie fraternity, and had been a member of the Protestant Epis- copal church for many years. He was a clothier and carder by trade, served as a soldier on the northern border in the war of 1812, and married Comfort Greenman, a native of what is now Montgomery county, who died April 12, 1828, and left a family of five children.
At seven years of age Garwood L. Judd was taken from Augusta Centre to Frank- fort, Herkimer county. He attended the common schools and Augusta Centre acad- emy, and then entered Clinton institute, from which he was graduated in 1844. He then read law with the legal firm of Judd & Cleland, of Frankfort, was admitted to the bar at Oswego in 1850, and in January, 1861, was admitted to practice in the courts of the United States. He practiced one year at Frankfort, Herkimer county, and then, in 1853, came to North Tonawanda, where he has been engaged ever since in the active practice of his profession.
September 18, 1850, he married Maria A. Pryne, daughter of Francis P. Pryne, of Frankfort, Herkimer county. They have
one ehild living, a daughter, named Mary.
When the Erie canal was widened and enlarged to accommodate increased travel, Mr. Judd was in the State engineer's de- partment, under William J. MeAlpine and William B. Taylor, who were engineers in charge of the work at Higginsville and Lit- tle Falls, New York. In 1858 he was elected justice of the peace for the town of Westfield, and is now serving his thirty- third continuous year in that office. In 1865, and again in 1875, he served as jus- tice of sessions, or associate judge, of Ni- agara county. Judge Judd beeame, in 1848, a member of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 40, Free and Accepted Masons, at Frankfort, New York, and after coming to North Ton- awanda he transferred his membership to Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, of which he is a past master, and which he represented in the Grand Lodge of the State at two differ- ent sessions held in New York city. He is now the second oldest Free Mason in New York west of the Genesee river. His engi- neering experience on the Erie canal has been very servieeable to him on more than one oceasion. He has laid out a large nun- ber of the streets of North Tonawanda, where one avenue is named Judd avenue, in honor of him. He drew up the papers for, and secured the incorporation of, North Tonawanda as a village, and served as its clerk for seven years, besides being a men- ber of the board of health for about the same length of time. He was one of the first to propose a cemetery for the village. He drew up, in 1868, the articles of associa- tion for North Tonawanda cemetery, and ob- tained the requisite order from conrt sanc- tioning them under the statute laws of the State. Appropriate grounds on the west side of Payne avenue were chosen and pur-
377
OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
chased, and many of the citizens have bought lots in the cemetery, which is taste- fully laid out and beautifully adorned.
In politics Mr. Judd is an unswerving and aggressive democrat, who believes in the supremacy of the principles of the Demo- cratic party as being necessary for the true development and future prosperity of the American Union. Not unnecessarily elated by victory, and never depressed by defeat, he has steadily and persistently worked for nearly half a century for his party and its success in the county, the State, and the nation. In 1890 his party, in recognition of his many services in behalf of democracy, nominated him as their candidate for the assembly in his district of the county. He was elected at the ensuing election, and during his term of service as a member of the New York legislature advocated those
measures intended for the good of the pub- lic, and carefully looked after the interests of his constituents. Every bill he intro- duced, nine in number, passed the house.
In public spirit, disinterestedness, and zeal for the general welfare, Hon. Garwood L. Judd is excelled by none. His chief aim or ambition in active life has always been to accomplish whatever he undertook, whether in the law, the political field, or the busi- ness world. He has been one of the most active public men of his county, and has inade an enviable record for ability and usefulness.
A' LEXANDER MACBEAN, a carpen- ter and builder of Niagara Falls, and a respected and worthy citizen of the village, was born in Nairnshire, Scotland, January 22, 1827, and is the son of Malcolm and Marjorie (Rose ) MacBean. The family is
of indigenous Scotch descent. The grand- father of Alexander was Donald MacBean, who died in Scotland at a great age, and whose son, Malcolm MacBean (father), also lived, loved, and after life's fitful fever, found a grave at the age of seventy, in the church-yard of his native town of Cawdor. He married Marjorie Rose, daughter of William Rose, of Strathnairn, and to this couple was born a family of nine children : Ann, who lives in Scotland; Donald, de- ceased; John; William, who went to Aus- tralia and mined for a number of years at Ballarat ; Laughlin, deceased ; Andrew, liv- ing in Scotland; Alexander, the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth, also living in Scot- land; and Malcolm.
Alexander MacBean was reared in Scot- land, and received his education in the schools of his native land. When twenty- six years of age he bid farewell to his home and friends, and started across the broad Atlantic to find a new home in the new world. He reached these shores in 1853, and located first at Newark, New Jersey. where he remained for only two years, and then removed to Niagara Falls, New York. That village has been his place of residence ever since. While yet a young man he learned the trade of a carpenter, and has pursued that occupation all his life. He is widely known as an excellent workman, and has assisted in the construction of some of the finest houses in the village.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.