Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 66

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256

USA > New York > Wyoming County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 66
USA > New York > Livingston County > Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y > Part 66

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Not satisfied, however, with the narrow opportunities of a country practice, he sailed for Europe in 1865, where he spent two years in travel and study. He attended the univer- sities of Heidelberg and Berlin, and heard lectures on criminal, international, and the civil law. He also studied French and Ger- man. He travelled through Italy, Holland, and Switzerland, and contributed to the West- ern New Yorker accounts of the lands and peoples he visited. The New York Observer and the Utica Herald copied his letters, and

commended them as faithful sketches of for- eign life and scenes. Mr. Farman returned from Europe in the latter part of 1867; and Governor Fenton appointed him District At- torney of Wyoming County, to fill a vacancy. He held this office during that year; and in 1868 he was nominated by the Republicans for the same position, and elected. At the expiration of this term he was re-elected. The fact that during seven years of official service no indictment drawn by him was quashed attests his professional fidelity and careful learning. In March, 1876, President Grant appointed Mr. Farman Agent and Con- sul-general of the United States at Cairo, Egypt. His appointment was confirmed the same day. From the time of his arrival at his post, in May following, until July, 1881, he held this position, and attended faithfully to its duties at Cairo, finding opportunity, however, for trips up the Nile, to Sinai, and through Palestine. His duties were chiefly diplomatic, and as a representative of the United States government in Egypt he was successful. He received the approval of the government and also of the Americans who resided in Cairo, as well as those who visited that capital for business or pleasure. His personal relations with the Khedive and the members of his government were friendly. This was appreciated by the American colony in Cairo. During his absence in 1878 an American who then held a high position in Egypt wrote of him in the following terms : -

"Every American here hopes Mr. Farman will return. It would be a great mistake in the government to send any one else. He understands this country and its people. Al- ways efficient in protecting every interest confided to his care, he has lately done great service to his countrymen here, who would have been in a pitiable plight without his aid."

The New York Times referred to Mr. Far- man in flattering terms. Its correspondent at Cairo said :

"Though discharged June 13, only one of our officers has received his pay. But with the valuable assistance of the indefatigable and prudent American Consul-general, Mr.

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Farman, of New York, these difficulties are likely soon to be adjusted. The zeal and tact displayed by him in clearing away misunder- standings in the settlement of officers' ac- counts explain the success he has achieved. In the country where the will of the sovereign is law, diplomacy has much to do in all such matters. It will be gratifying to all Ameri- cans to know that so competent and excellent an officer as Mr. Farman is in the service of his country."

Among the negotiations successfully con- ducted by Mr. Farman were those for the in- crease of the number of American judges in the international tribunal of Egypt. By the stipulations the United States were author- ized to send a third judge. Mr. Farman took part in the reception of General Grant on his visit to Cairo. He presented the General to the Khedive, acted as interpreter at their interview, and gave a state dinner on that occasion. His speech at the dinner was pub- lished in this country, and his conduct of the reception warmly commen led. He accom- panied the General on his Nile voyage. John Russell Young wrote to the New York Herald from the Egyptian capital that General Grant said, "America has in Mr. Farman a most ex- cellent representative, who can but do honor to our consular service." Mr. Farman's abil- ity to speak French added to his usefulness at a court where that is the language of official intercourse. He did not confine his attention to the wants of Americans having claims against the Egyptian government, nor devote himself exclusively to the service of his coun- trymen in Egypt. While these demands upon him received attention, his official reports, published in Washington, show that he also took an active interest in the welfare of the people of the country to which he was ac- credited. Mr. Farman negotiated a treaty with Egypt providing for the extinction of the slave traffic in that country and its provinces. Though completed and assented to on the part of the Egyptian government, the treaty was never executed on account of the sudden change of the ministry. He took a deep in- terest in the conditions of the slaves in that country ; and upon his application at differ-

ent times fifteen were liberated by the govern- ment on the ground of their ill treatment by their owners. The first was a negro boy brought by a slave-trader from Soudan, and sold at Saccara, a village near the Pyramids. The slave was brutally treated, and escaped to Cairo, where an American lady brought him to the notice of the Consul-general. He interested himself in the case, and in June, 1877, secured an order from the Egyptian government, freeing the slave. On another occasion he obtained from that government papers of manumission for three slave girls.

The most meagre sketch would be incom- plete without mention of Mr. Farman's ser- vice in securing the granite obelisk known in history as Cleopatra's Needle, which stood so long in front of the Temple of Cæsar in Alex- andria, and is now the most valuable orna- ment of Central Park in New York. This great monolith, erected in Heliopolis at the entrance of the Temple of the Sun 'about six- teen centuries before Christ, was a familiar sight to Moses while he was in favor at the court of Pharaoh. It was an ancient monu- ment, its inscriptions chiselled in a language no longer spoken when Alexander the Great, pausing in his military conquests after his destruction of Tyre, between the sea and Lake Mareotis, near the Kanobic mouth of the Nile, founded the imperial city bearing his name, which became the literary and commer- cial centre, the magnificent metropolis of the ancient world. More than three centuries later, after the last representative of the Greek reign in Eygpt had disappeared, this obelisk was brought to Alexandria. The pre- cise date of its erection in the reign of Thothmes III. and of its removal to this city by the sea, as well as the name of the ruler who moved it, finally faded out of history. In 1877 Mr. Dixon and Dr. Neroutsos Bey, while making excavations at its base, found an inscription, both in Latin and in Greek, engraved on a claw of one of the copper crabs on which it stood, showing that the monu- ment was erected at Alexandria in the eighth year of the reign of Augustus Cæsar, B.C. 22, by the prefect P. Rubrius Barbarus. When Commander Gorringe uncovered its base, the

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discoveries of Mr. Dixon and Neroutsos Bey were verified. After the lapse of nineteen centuries this obelisk was lowered a second time, and removed more than one-fourth the distance around the globe to decorate our me- tropolis, as Rome and Constantinople and Paris and London were successively adorned by obelisks hewn in the dawn of history from the rose-colored granite of Syene. To the zeal and tact of Mr. Farman the city of New York is indebted for the gift of this interest- ing monument of one of the oldest civiliza- tions. For his success in this delicate matter he was complimented by the Department of State. Secretary Evarts, in his address at Central Park on the occasion of the cere- monies after the erection of this monument, spoke in high terms of Mr. Farman as Consul- general and of his efficient services in secur- ing the obelisk.

His legal training gave Mr. Farman an im- portant qualification for his position, as the Consular Court over which he presided was the only tribunal in Egypt which had power to try an American citizen for crime com- mitted in that country. It had jurisdiction also in other cases not infrequently arising. Mr. Farman's reports to the Department of State, which were published in the annual volumes of reports upon the commercial and diplomatic relations of the United States with foreign countries, bear ample testimony to his intelligent and painstaking observation of the agriculture, commerce, politics, and finance of Egypt. His published despatches also show that the interests of his countrymen re- ceived his judicious and watchful attention, and that the public business committed to him was well cared for. That the affairs of this consulate-general suffered no harm while its duties, neither few nor light, were in his charge, is evident from the record he made during five years of service. July 1, 1881, President Garfield appointed Mr. Farman Judge of the Mixed Tribunals of Egypt, in place of the Hon. Philip H. Morgan. This promotion was merited by the valuable service which Mr. Farman had rendered as diplomatic representative of the United States at the Court of the Khedive.

The Mixed or Reform Tribunals of Egypt are international. The seven great powers, including the United States, are each repre- sented by three judges, while the powers of the second class have each one or two, and Egypt has three-fifths as many as all the others. In the Ottoman Empire the Chris- tian European powers and the United States have by treaty stipulations extra-territorial jurisdiction, and govern through their diplo- matic and consular officers and by their own laws such of their citizens as reside either temporarily or permanently in those countries. Such citizens are not amenable to local laws or authorities, and their right of being gov- erned by the representatives of their respec- tive countries extends from father to son through successive generations. Every case, either criminal or civil, against a foreigner, must be brought and prosecuted before his own consul. The number of foreigners resid- ing in Egypt finally became so large, and the numerous systems of jurisprudence so cumber- some and inconvenient, and so detrimental to the commercial interests of the country, that some remedy was necessary. After long negotiations, at the request of the Egyptian government, the powers consented to the for- mation of the Mixed Tribunals and to the adoption for their use of a code, which was a modification of the Code Napoleon. These tribunals were given exclusive jurisdiction in civil cases between parties of different nation- alities. Jurisdiction in criminal cases and in civil cases between parties of the same nation- ality is still vested, as formerly, in the con- sular authorities of the several powers, and in the case of Egyptians in their own local authorities. As most of the merchants, bankers, and business men of Egypt are either foreigners or enjoy the protection of foreign governments, the Mixed Tribunals constitute the principal courts of the country. In fact, they determine nearly all cases of importance.

In the autumn of 1880 Mr. Farman was ap- pointed delegate on the part of the United States on an International Commission, in- stituted to revise the Judicial Code for the use of the Mixed Tribunals. President Hayes in his last annual message said : ---

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"A commission for the revision of the Judicial Code of the Reform Tribunals of Egypt is now in session at Cairo. Mr. Far- man, Consul-general, and George S. Batchel- ler, Esq., have been appointed as commis- sioners to participate in this work."

In January, 1883, Mr. Farman was desig- nated by President Arthur as a member of the International Commission organized to fix the indemnity to be paid to the people of Alex- andria for damages arising from the riots, bombardment, burning, and pillage of that city in June and July, 1882. In eleven months this commission examined over ten thousand claims, and awarded upon them over twenty million dollars. During this work he also performed his judicial duties, usually sitting in the court one day every week. The judgeship was a life position, with a liberal salary from the Egyptian government. In the fall of 1884 he resigned, returned, and took an active part in the Presidential campaign of that year. Mr. Farman represented the United States in Egypt during one of the most interesting periods of its modern history. He was in Cairo through those eventful times that led to the dethronement of Khedive Is- mail Pasha and the installation of his son, Tewfik, as his successor. Afterward he wit- nessed the riots in Alexandria and the bom- bardment and burning of that city. During his residence in Egypt, 1876-84, Mr. Farman made interesting collections of ancient coins, scarabæii, bronzes, porcelain, and other antiq- uities. Among these is the Farman Loan Collection, now on exhibition at the Metro- politan Museum in New York. In 1858 Am- herst College conferred upon him the degree of M. A., and in 1882 he received the degree of LL.D. from the same institution. On leaving Egypt, the Khedive made him Grand Officer of the Imperial Order of the Mod- jedick, a decoration seldom conferred.

Soon after leaving college, Mr. Farman married Lois Parker, a niece of the Rev. Joel Parker, D.D., late of New York. She died in June, 1881. In 1883 he married Adelaide F., daughter of the Hon. David H. Frisbie, of Galesburg, Ill., by whom he has three chil- dren. Mr. Farman has been a Republican

from the organization of that party. He is a member of the Union League Club of New York, of the Society of the Sons of the Revo- lution, and of the New York State Bar Asso- ciation. Since his return from Egypt he has delivered some lectures, made occasional political speeches, and travelled extensively ; but he has confined his attention chiefly to the management of his diversified business interests.

mü ARVIN C. ROWLAND, M.D., a skilful and successful physician and surgeon of Geneseo, Living- ston County, N. Y., who died of heart disease, January 15, 1895, was born at Hartford, Washington County, June 4, 1826. Dr. Rowland left a record both as a medical practitioner and private citizen of which his family may well be proud. He came of an ancestry who were noted for their intellectual attainments, and he proved himself a worthy descendant.

As near as can be learned from the best information at hand, Dr. Rowland's great- grandfather was a native of England, who on coming to America established for himself a residence on Long Island, where his son, the Doctor's grandfather, was born. This gentle- man afterward became a resident of Dutchess County ; and there the Doctor's father, Henry Rowland, first saw the light of day. The stern and systematic grandsire of the Doctor required all his sons to learn a trade of some kind. Consequently, Henry was apprenticed to a tailor, and acquired that calling as a means of livelihood. But his intellectual in- stinets were strong within him, and he soon abandoned his trade. After pursuing and per- fecting his studies, he entered into the prac- tice of law. While still a young man, he set- tled at Hartford, and there practised his pro- fession with success until his decease, which occurred in 1841, at the age of forty-nine years.

The maiden name of Mrs. Henry Rowland was Betsey Inglesbe. She was a daughter of Joseph Inglesbe, of the State of Massachu- setts, a soldier of the Revolutionary War.

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After the death of her husband she came to Livingston County to reside, and here passed the remainder of her life. Mrs. Rowland was a lady who possessed many strong and sterling traits. She died at the advanced age of eighty-five, having carefully reared nine chil- dren. The following are their names: El- thusa, Francis, Joseph, Hannah, Artemus, Marvin C., Henry James, Phoebe, and Mary Elizabeth. Phoebe died at the age of eleven. Francis served in the late war, in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment, New York Volunteers, and is now deceased. Arte- mus died at the age of twenty-seven, being at the time of his death Sheriff of Livingston County.

Marvin C. Rowland received his early edu- cation in the district schools, afterward at- tended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, and then entered the University of Ver- mont at Burlington. At the age of twenty- seven he applied himself to the study of medi- cine. He was graduated with honor at the University of New York, and located in Wash- ington County, where he practised his profes- sion with success until 1862, when he entered the army as Surgeon of the Sixty-first Regi- ment, New York Volunteers, joining it at Harper's Ferry. He served through all its campaigns and battles, until the summer of 1865, when he was mustered out with the regiment, and in 1866 resumed the duties of his profession in Lakeville. In 1877 he re- moved to Geneseo, where he remained in ac- tive practice till his decease in the sixty- eighth year of his age.

Dr. Rowland's first wife, whom he married in 1850, was Martha W. Livingston, of He- bron, Washington County, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Selfridge) Livingston. She died in 1853. In 1870 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Emily Haynes, of Geneseo, the daughter of J. Hunter Haynes, whose father, John, and grandfather, James, came from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, the latter in 1792. J. Hunter Haynes, who was born at Geneseo, October 27, 1809, was a very prosperous and successful farmer. He was a life-long resident of Geneseo, and a member of the Presbyterian church at Lakeville upward

of forty years. The maiden name of his first wife, Mrs. Rowland's mother, was Mary Price. She was a daughter of Arthur and Agnes (Sinclair) Price. Dr. Rowland had one son by his first marriage, LoVette Living- ston, and one by the second marriage, Harry Haynes.

The Doctor was a member of the Central New York and Livingston County Medical Societies. Socially, Dr. Rowland was con- nected with the Masons, Odd Fellows, and the Grand Army Post, each of which organiza- tions attended the funeral in a body. The pall-bearers were leading medical men of the vicinity, namely : Dr. Richmond, of Livonia ; Dr. Dodge, of Mount Morris; Dr. Moyer, of Moscow; Dr. Filkins, of York; and Drs. Green and Lauderdale, of Geneseo. Mrs. Rowland is a member of the Presbyterian church, with which her husband was also con- nected.

ILLIAM H. HAWLEY, JR., one of the most enterprising young busi- ness men of Wyoming County, was born at Warsaw, April 6, 1862. He is a son of William H. and Sarah (Purdy) Hawley, and grandson of Colonel-major and Nancy (Bronson) Hawley, who were both natives of Manchester, Bennington County, Vt.

Colonel Hawley was born in 1791, and in early life was a farmer, dealing extensively in live stock. He continued in this business until 1848, when he sold his farm, in order to pay more close attention to the business of the Battankill State Bank at Manchester, of which he was a large stockholder and President. He held this position until 1872, when he retired from the Presidency of the then Bat- tankill National Bank, and conducted a marble quarry at Dorset, Vt., also being well known as a money-lender. He was first a Whig, and later a Republican, in his politics. He was Overseer of the Poor, Assessor, Selectman of his town, judge of court, Representative to the legislature, one of the Directors of the Bennington & Rutland Railroad, and Colonel of the State militia. His death occurred in 1877. He reared four children, the eldest of

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whom, Willmina D., born January 18, 1823, died March 14, 1846. Ellen, the second, born July 3, 1826, now resides at Manchester, Vt. E. J. Hawley, born January 22, 1828, also a resident of Manchester, Vt., married Francis Walker, and is in the marble busi- ness, and is the patentee of the Hawley Sand Feed for sawing stone, which is used exten- sively in the United States and in foreign countries.

William H. Hawley, Sr., the youngest son of Colonel Hawley, was born October 15, 1831. He was educated at the Burr and Bur- ton Seminary, Manchester, Vt. At the age of twenty-four he commenced farming, and from 1857 till 1862 was interested in the marble business. Moving to Perry Centre, N. Y., during the latter year, on June 2 he started a store for the sale of general merchan- dise, and here did a large and profitable busi- ness for ten years. In 1873 he established a boot and shoe store at Perry Centre, in 1876 put in a full and complete stock of general merchandise, and in 1881 took his son, Will- iam HI. Hawley, Jr., as a partner in the busi- ness. They continued together until 1886, when he retired from active business, leaving his son to continue the trade. Mr. Hawley has since dealt quite extensively in real estate, of which he owns a considerable amount in Warsaw, Perry, and Batavia, consisting of village lots and farms. His residence at Perry Centre was built in 1817, and is in a fine state of preservation.

On September 6, 1860, William H. Haw- ley, Sr., married Sarah A., daughter of Albert and Sarah (Benedict) Purdy, both natives of Manchester, Vt., but after marriage residents successively in Perry Centre and in Warsaw. In the former place Mr. Purdy carried on a general merchandise and tailoring business, which he sold in 1854; and in Warsaw he engaged in the real estate business, erecting and renting many houses, of which he owned at one time as many as forty. He was a Democrat in politics. He died at the age of eighty-one, and his wife at seventy-nine years. Three children were born to them: S. D. Purdy, who married Minerva Bainbridge, and now resides in Rochester, where he is a loan

broker; Sarah A., Mrs. Hawley, born August 13, 1836; and Celia, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. William HI. Hawley, Sr., have had three children, namely : William H., subject of this sketch ; Frank, born February, 1870, who died at the age of seven months; and Millie, born February 1, 1873. Mr. Hawley is a Republican, and has been trustee of the town schools and also the Congrega- tional church.

William H. Hawley, Jr., has been in active business since he was twenty years old. He attended school at Perry Centre, Perry, and Warsaw, graduating at the age of eighteen. He then opened a cash grocery across the street from his father's place of business. At the end of one year he sold out, and attended Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., graduating in April, 1881. In May of the same year he entered into a five years' partnership with his father. At the expiration of that time he purchased his father's interest in the business, and, continuing the same, added to it the buying of farm products, mak- ing a specialty of buying eggs for shipment. He personally drove a wagon on the road for three years, selling groceries and buying eggs. Since then he has bought eggs from the mer- chants of the adjoining towns, shipping as high as sixty thousand dozens in one season. Mr. Hawley is a stanch and loyal Republican. He was treasurer of the Perry Centre Repub- lican Club of 1880, and one of the organizers of the Blaine and Logan Club of 1884; organ- ized the Philip H. Sheridan Club in 1888, and was elected its President, which office he has since held. He was appointed Postmaster at Perry Centre April 26, 1889, and held the position until August 18, 1893. He has sev- eral times been a delegate to the County, Senatorial, and Congressional Conventions ; was a member of the Town Committee from 1884 to 1889; also a member of the Senatorial District Committee in 1886, 1888, 1890; member of the Congressional Committee in 1890, 1892, 1894; delegate to the State Con- vention at Albany in 1892, and to the State Convention at Saratoga which nominated Mor- ton for governor, September 15. 1894. He was appointed and served as General Com-

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mittee Clerk in the New York State Sen- ate for 1890-91; also received the appoint- ment of Index Clerk of the New York State Assembly, and held the office for two years, 1894-95.

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Biographical review : this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Livingston and Wyoming counties, N.Y, Part 66

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review Number of Pages: 1256

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Boston : Biographical Review
Number of Pages: 1256