USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 2 > Part 30
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
The cost of the works of which Mr. Corthell had responsible charge exceeded $140,000,000. In 1912 he presented a re- port on the required dimensions of mari- time canals to the International Naviga- tion Congress at Philadelphia. In 1915 he presented a paper on the improvement of mouths of rivers, etc., to the second Pan American Scientific Congress, Washing- ton, D. C.
After forty-eight years of exceedingly active and laborious work Mr. Corthell found his chief source of satisfaction in the fact that his works were conducive to the benefit of commerce by sea, river, canal and rail, and he could point with pride to the results which, in a measure, aided in reducing the cost of transporta- tion on land and water, and so have bene- fited mankind.
Mr. Corthell was a member of the fol- lowing societies: The American Society of Civil Engineers, of which he was presi- dent in 1916; the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers; the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain; the Royal Society of Arts of Great Britain ; membre d'honneur of the French Society of Civil Engineers, and corresponding member of that society; the Mexican Association of Civil Engineers and Architects ; honor- ary member of the Geographical and Sta- tistical Society of Mexico; member of the American Geographical Society ; the Na- tional Geographic Society, Washington, D. C .; fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London; the Boston Society of Civil Engineers; the Western Society of Engineers, Chicago; fellow of the Amer- ican Association for the Advancement of Science, vice-president and member of the council; second vice-president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in 1888, first vice-president in 1893 ; presi- dent of the Western Society of Engineers in 1889; honorary member of the Engi- neering Society of Portugal, the Institu- tion of Engineers of the River Plate, of the Centro de Navigacion Transatlantica, and Sociedad Cientifica of Argentine, and a life member of the Engineers' Club of Rio de Janeiro; member of the American Railway Engineering Association ; Amer- ican Institute Consulting Engineers, pres- ident in 1915, reelected in 1916; Franklin Institute of Philadelphia ; American High- way Association ; Pan American Society
205
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
of the United States; a founder of the Pan American Chamber of Commerce; chairman (1916) of Section D, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the council; Chamber of Commerce United States of America, and member of committee on merchant marine.
He was a member of several military and patriotic societies: Grand Army of the Republic ; Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; Sons of the American Revolution ; the New England Society; Society of the Army of the Po- tomac, and of academical societies and clubs, including the University Club of New York City, and of honorary college societies-Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi.
Bibliography of publications of Dr. E. L. Corthell : "Leveeing on the Upper Mis- sissippi," 1874 (Civil Engineers' Club of the Northwest). "Sny Island Levee Com- pared with Levees on the Lower Missis- sippi," Louisiana, Missouri, 1874. "Im- provement of the Mouth of the Missis- sippi River," New York (American Soci- ety of Civil Engineers, Eighth Annual Convention, 1876. "History of the Mis- sissippi Jetties-The South Pass Jetties," 1880. "The Overflow of the Mississippi River," presented to American Society of Civil Engineers, 1882. "Tehuantepec Ship Railway ; its Practicability and Com- mercial Features," from the "Mexican Financier," December, 1884. "South Pass Jetties : Ten Years' Practical Teachings in River and Harbor Hydraulics," American Society of Civil Engineers' Transactions, vol. 13, 1884. "Tehuantepec Railway," 1885, reprinted from "Journal of Franklin Institute," June, 1885. "Inter-oceanic Prob- lem and its Scientific Solution," (Amer- ican Association for Advancement of Science ), Ann Arbor, 1885. "The Radi- cal Enlargement of the Erie Canal," pre- sented to American Society of Civil Engi-
neers, 1885. "Isthmian Ship Railway," address before New York Academy of Science, December 20, 1886. "Statement before Committee United States House of Representatives on Commercial Ad- vantages of Tehuantepec Ship Railway," 1886. "Atlantic and Pacific Ship Railway across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico," considered commercially, prac- tically and constructively, 1886. Exposi- tion of the Errors and Fallacies of Rear- Admiral Ammen's Pamphlet entitled : "The Certainty of the Nicaragua Canal Contrasted with the Uncertainties of the Eads Ship Railway," Washington, 1886. "Levees," Johnson's "Universal Cyclo- pedia," vol. iv., 1886. "Ship Canals," Johnson's "Universal Cyclopedia," vol. vii., 1886. "Venetian Ship Railway," read June 18, reprinted from Proceedings of Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, vol. 6, 1887. Remarks at a meeting of the West- ern Society of Engineers, June 4th, on the resolution to cooperate in erecting a monument to the late James B. Eads, 1890. "New Orleans Belt Railway, Union Depot and Bridge," with other papers, New Orleans, 1890. Articles in Johnson's "New Cyclopedia" on "Jetties, Levees, Ship Canals and Ship Railways," 1890. "An Enlarged Waterway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Seaboard," presented to the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, 1891. "Improvement of River Mouths," presented to International Con- gress of Maritime Navigation, Paris, 1892. "Tehuantepec Isthmus Railway," by Matias Romero and E. L. Corthell, Washington, 1894. By Gustav W. Triest, "New Waterway-Rotterdam to the Sea" (sixth International Inland Navigation Congress, Hague, 1894), a paper based on notes and observation by Mr. Corthell and revised by him, 1894. "Literary Product of the International Engineering Con- gress of 1893," read June 21, 1895 (re-
206
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
printed from Proceedings of American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. 21, 1895). Lecture before the National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C., on the "Te- huantepec Route," 1895. "Growth of Population of Great Cities," American Association Advancement of Science, 1895. Resumé of correspondence from Engineering Societies, relating to estab- lishing closer international relations, (American Society of Civil Engineers, Proceedings, vol. 21, 1895). "Proposed International Railroad Bridge over the Detroit River," 1896. "Civil Engineer of the Twentieth Century," reprinted from Society for Promotion of Engineering Education, 1896. "Some Notes Physical and Commercial upon the Delta of the Mississippi River," read before Section D, American Association for Advance- ment of Science, Buffalo, August 26, 1896. "Tampico Harbor Works," Mexico-Lon- don, 1896, Institution of Civil Engineers, minutes of Proceedings, 1896. Remarks before committee on rivers and harbors United States House of Representatives, upon closing Crevasse of Pass a Loutre, Mississippi River, 1898. Report to Secre- tary of State, United States of America, upon seventh International Congress of Navigation, Brussels, 1898. "Maritime Commerce, Past, Present and Future," Berne, 1898 (American Association for Advancement of Science), Boston, 1898. International Congress of Navigation held at Brussels, July, 1898 (American Society of Civil Engineers), Annual Con- vention, Cape May, New Jersey, June 27, 1899. "The Approaches and Transporta- tion Facilities of the Paris Exposition of 1900," presented to American Society of Civil Engineers, 1899. Articles in "Engi- neering Magazine" on "Rock Railways," 1897. "Protection of Sandy Shores," 1897. "Large Sea-going Dredgers," 1898. "Ship Canals," 1899. "The Harbors of
the World." "Their Present and Re- quired Conditions of Navigability and Facilities," presented to International Congress of Navigation, Paris, 1900. Epi- tome of lecture delivered in Buenos Aires, April 22. "Mexico, Tableland to Gulf, Canyons, Waterfalls, Railroads, Panuco River, Harbor Works," 1901. Lecture on "Argentine, past, present, future," 1903. "Report upon Engineering Education," reprinted from Technology Quarterly, vol. 16, n. 3, 1903. "Population of Great Cities," presented to American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, 1903. "The Tampico Harbor Works, Mexico," monograph to accompany models at Louisiana Purchase Exposi- tion, St. Louis, 1904. "Railroad Termi- nals," Review of General Practice, Inter- national Engineering Congress, 1904, re- printed from Transactions of American. Society of Civil Engineering, Vol. 54, 1905. Article in Encyclopedia Americana on "Large Passenger Stations of the World," 1905. "Rapid Increase in the Dimensions of Steamers and Sailing Vessels," presented to International Navi- gation Congress, Milan, 1905. "Allow- able Pressures on Deep Foundations," presented to the Institution of Civil Engi- neers, 1906. "Conditions hydrauliques des grandes voies navigables du globe," presented to the Société des Ingenieurs Civils, Paris, 1906. "Port of Para, Bra- zil," presented to the International Asso- ciation of Navigation Congresses, Brus- sels, 1907. "The Port of Para," article in "Engineering Supplement, London Times," September 4, 1907. "Results of Investigations into Cost of Ports and of Their Operation," presented to Interna- tional Association Navigation Congresses, Brussels, 1907. "Port and Barra Works of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil," article in "Engineering Supplement, London Times," July 15, 1908. "Report Upon the
207
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Second International Road Congress, Brussels," July 31-August 6, 1910, "Engi- neering News," September 1, 1910. "The Wetterhorn Lift," "Engineering Record," 1910. "The Loetschberg Tunnel," "Engi- neering News," 1910. "Dimensions of Maritime Canal for International Navi- gation," Congress, Philadelphia, 1912. "Proper Methods of Improving Mouths of Rivers," Second Pan-American So- ciety Congress, 1915.
Dr. Corthell married (first) in July, 1867, Emilie Theodate Davis, who died in 1884, daughter of William S. and Betsey A. (Wood) Davis, of Providence, Rhode Island. They were the parents of a daughter, Alice E., and a son, Howard L. Corthell. He married (second) April 21, 1900, Marie Kuechler, of Bern, Switzer- land. Their only child, a daughter, Kath- leen Mary, died in 1901.
YATES, Arthur Gould, Man of Affairs.
One of the most versatile business men the City of Rochester, New York, has ever known was the late Arthur Gould Yates, who left the impress of his indi- viduality so indelibly upon the develop- ment of the city and upon the public life and thought of the State, that a history of that section would be incomplete were no mention made of him. But it was not the possession of excellent business qualifica- tions alone that gained him eminence ; as a man and a citizen he displayed a per- sonal worth and an excellence of char- acter that not only commanded the re- spect of those with whom he was associ- ated but won him the warmest personal admiration and the stanchest friendships. Aside from his business affairs he found time for the championship of many pro- gressive measures, recognized the oppor- tunities for reform, advancement and im- provement, and labored effectively and
earnestly for the general good. With him success was reached through his sterling qualities of mind, and a heart true to every manly principle. He never devi- ated from what his judgment indicated to be right and honorable between his fel- low men and himself, never swerved from the path of duty, and his abilities were such as to gain him distinction in every field of labor to which he directed his energies.
Dr. William Yates, grandfather of Arthur Gould Yates, was born in Sapper- ton, England, in 1757, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1792. He was a physician of note in his day, and was one of the first to introduce the practice of vaccination in America. Later he took up his residence in New York State, and there married Hannah Palmer, of Unadilla, New York.
Arthur Yates, eldest son of Dr. William and Hannah (Palmer) Yates, was born in Morris, Otsego county, New York, Feb- ruary 7, 1807. He commenced the prac- tice of law in Tioga county, New York, and while county judge there married Jerusha Washburn.
Arthur Gould Yates, son of Arthur and Jerusha (Washburn) Yates, was born at Factoryville, now East Waverly, New York, December 18, 1843, and died at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, February 9, 1909. He was the recipient of a liberal education, attending various academies in the southern tier, and later came to Rochester. Immediately after attaining his majority he became associated with the Anthracite Coal Association, which is no longer in existence, and subsequently was engaged in this business independ- ently for a number of years. A man of great foresight, Mr. Yates early recog- nized the possibilities of Charlotte and entertained the idea of making it one of the most important ports on the Great Lakes. He constructed the first of the Genesee docks, generally known as the
208
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Yates Docks, shortly after engaged in the coal business, and the advance he made in the anthracite business had never betore been known in that section. In every direction markets were developed and vessels that were carriers of coal shipped by Mr. Yates were practically on every lake. In 1876 the coal firm of Bell, Lewis & Yates was organized, and became one of the most important coal firms in the country, having large docks at Charlotte, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Duluth.
The Rochester and State Line Railroad Company had been in existence for sev- eral years with one terminal in Rochester and the other in Salamanca ; it was not a road of great importance and there were but few shareholders. Bell, Lewis & Yates, miners and shippers of large quantities of bituminous coal, saw the State Line rail- road, as it was popularly termed, taken over by men of great wealth who made of it the Rochester & Pittsburgh, and later by building into Buffalo the Buffalo, Roches- ter & Pittsburgh. They had organized a subsidiary company, the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company. The Bell, Lewis & Yates Coal Mining Com- pany was incorporated as the Jefferson & Clearfield Coal & Iron Company. Mr. Yates saw perhaps more clearly than the owners the possibilities in the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway, and on April 11, 1889, the company he was in- terested in purchased a large block of the company's stock. The immediate re- sult was that, on April 24, 1889, eight of the directors of the company retired and seven others were elected. On the same day Arthur Iselin, retired from the presi- dency of the company, and was succeeded by Arthur Gould Yates, who remained the incumbent of this office until his death. Mr. Yates was elected to the board of directors to represent the firm of Bell, Lewis & Yates, and subsequently,
when the other members of the firm wished to withdraw from the railroad business, Mr. Yates purchased their in- terest in the railway stock and became his own representative in the board.
The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh railway was at first, and when Mr. Yates became associated with it, a single track trunk line between Rochester and Punx- sutawney with a branch from Ashford to Buffalo. During Mr. Yates' occupation of the presidency the road was extended to Pittsburgh and the Clearfield branch was built. Foreseeing the demand for bituminous coal that would come with the twentieth century, Mr. Yates, as soon as he became president of the company, planned to enable his road to care for its share of the increased business which would surely come. He secured new coal land and mines were opened by the two mining companies controlled by the rail- way company, and where there had hitherto been a wilderness, long trains of coal laden cars commenced to appear. Iron properties were developed in the same manner, and the guiding and pro- gressive spirit of Mr. Yates was felt everywhere.
The possibilities of Canada now began to play a part in the calculations of Mr. Yates, and he considered the best means of supplying the growing cities, towns and villages of that country at the least expense. Transportation by water ap- peared to be the best and cheapest method, and he at once considered the advisability of constructing a ferry boat, running between Charlotte and some suitable point in Canada, and capable of carrying a train of cars loaded with coal. When he advocated the building and operation of such a boat his project was laughed at and derided, but nothing daunted he persisted and the result was the Ontario Car Ferry Company, Limited,
NY-Vol III-14
209
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
composed of officials from the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh and the Grand Trunk railways. The success of the ven- ture more than realized the predictions of Mr. Yates.
Mr. Yates was identified with many lines of business, a director in many com- panies, and interested in many others in which his name appeared only as a stock- holder. He was a director in the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Com- pany, the Reynoldsville & Falls Creek Railroad Company, the Silver Lake Rail- way Company, the American Fruit Pro- duct Company, the Duffy-McInnerney Company, the Pittsburgh Gas Coal Com- pany, the General Railway Signal Com- pany, the Ontario Car Ferry Company, Limited; the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company ; the Mahoning In- vestment Company ; the Columbia Trust Company of New York; the Cowanshan- nock Coal & Coke Company. He was a large stockholder in the National Bank of Rochester, the New York & Kentucky Company, and the National Hotel Com- pany.
Mr. Yates was an ardent supporter of the Wilgus plan to have a Rochester sta- tion adopted by the New York Central. He became a leader of the supporters of these plans when they were proposed, and practically his final act as a citizen of Rochester was to go as chairman of a sub-committee from the Chamber of Commerce to New York to confer with President W. C. Brown, of the New York Central, and President Horace E. An- drews, of the Rochester Railway Com- pany, relative to the adoption of those plans. Those who were present at this conference say that Mr. Yates talked with greater enthusiasm and pleaded with more earnestness than he had probably done at any time in his life. This con- ference took place on the Saturday pre- ceding the death of Mr. Yates, and im-
mediately after it, and several times in the course of the day, he was heard to remark that his trip had been an emi- nently successful one, that it was the greatest day of his life, and that he was as happy as a boy. During the afternoon he took a short nap, then attended the dinner of the Society of the Genesee in the evening. At its conclusion he was chatting with some friends when he com- plained of feeling ill and at once went to his apartments in the Waldorf-Astoria, which he considered his New York home. Unconsciousness ensued almost immedi- ately, and he never regained conscious- ness. While his recovery was not ex- pected at any time, he lingered until the following Tuesday afternoon. With him at the last were his wife, his eldest son, his daughter, Mrs. Ward, Miss Daintry Yates, of New York, a cousin, and Dr. Carlton Yates, another cousin. The re- mains of Mr. Yates were taken to Roches- ter in his private car, the "Virginia," and were immediately removed to the Yates home at No. 130 South Fitzhugh street. The "Virginia" was attached to the Fast Mail on the New York Central. In the car Mr. Yates had made many trips, usually accompanied by Mrs. Yates, who was Miss Virginia L. Holden, for whom his car was named. When traveling Mr. Yates most enjoyed sitting in the obser- vation end of the car, looking at the coun- try and conversing with his guests. Here, where he had passed many happy hours, the casket was placed for the journey to Rochester. Mr. Yates had been a com- municant of St. Paul's Protestant Epis- copal Church, and a warden in it for more than thirty years, and it was there that the funeral services, attended by innumer- able men eminent in every walk of life, were held; the interment, in the family lot in Mount Hope Cemetery, was pri- vate.
Mr. Yates married, December 25, 1866,
210
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Virginia L. Holden, a daughter of Ros- well Holden, of Watkins. Of the six children of this union there are now liv- ing: Mrs. Levi S. Ward, Frederick W., Harry and Russell P. Mr. Yates had been a trustee of the University of Rochester for some years; and was a member of the Genesee Valley Club of Rochester, the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh, and the Transporta- tion and Midday clubs of New York.
All the newspapers along the line of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad contained long sketches of the career of Mr. Yates. The "DuBois Daily Express" said in part :
The name of Arthur G. Yates is inseparably connected with the development of the coal business in Central Pennsylvania, and he was one of the first alert minds to grasp the possi- bilities of the region. He was the last of the trio of capitalists who opened the Rochester mine in Du Bois in 1875, and launched the first gigantic coal operations in this region. In 1890 the firm of Bell, Lewis & Yates bought out all of the smaller mines in the vicinity of Reynolds- ville, together with considerable adjoining ter- ritory. They also secured other workings at Du Bois and Falls Creek. In all these trans- actions Mr. Yates was the pusher and planner. He was also the selling agent and sometimes came home from his trips with contracts for half a million tons of coal.
Among the many resolutions by vari- ous social, religious and commercial bodies are the following: The special Committee of Fifteen of the Chamber of Commerce which had the work of push- ing the plans for the new Central Station, met February IIth, and took action on the death of President Arthur G. Yates, who was a member. The following minutes were adopted :
The members of the Committee of Fifteen recognize in the death of their friend and asso- ciate, Arthur Gould Yates, an irreparable loss to the City of Rochester, of which he was so loyal and valuable a citizen. From the organization of the Committee up to the time of his demise,
he rendered conspicuous service to promote the movement for which the Committee was formed. Possessed of a truly patriotic and public spirit, he gave freely of his time, experience and counsel for the public good, and his remarkable executive ability in the organization and management of affairs rendered his cooperation of the greatest value in any position to which he was called.
Generous, charitable, sympathetic, he was in both private and public life a man who endeared himself to his associates, winning their affection, commanding their loyal support in every under- taking in which they were engaged. He possessed to a remarkable degree the qualities of courage, foresight, energy and enthusiasm, which won for him a commanding position among his fellow men.
We regard his death not only a public, but a personal loss. We extend to his bereaved family our sincere sympathy in their great sorrow, and we desire that this brief minute in affectionate expression of his worth be transmitted to them by the secretary of the Committee.
The vestrymen of St. Paul's Church, of which Arthur G. Yates was senior warden for many years, have adopted a memorial in which a tribute is paid to Mr. Yates, and his long service in the church organi- zation is recounted. It is set forth that in his death the church has suffered a great loss and each member of the vestry a per- sonal bereavement. The memorial was spread upon the minutes and a copy was sent to Mrs. Yates.
WHITBECK, John Fonda Ward, Physician and Surgeon.
Dean of the medical fraternity of Rochester and one of the leading sur- geons of the State of New York, Dr. Whitbeck, whose passing came to his city as a public calamity, was one of the most modest of professional men, and while secure in the knowledge of his own great skill, was slow to recommend a sur- gical operation, saying : "All operations are dangerous."
For many years his name stood for
211
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
leadership of the best type in the medical profession, and his reputation as a sur- geon was wide. Following in the foot- steps of his father, he began the study of medicine and surgery because he loved them and felt the call of his ability in their direction. He became a most diligent student, showing a fine aptitude for his chosen work, and after receiving his de- grees he rose rapidly as a thorough and skillful practitioner. In a little time his reputation had extended until his advice and counsel, as well as his surgical skill, were sought from many sections of the State. In the city he had a clientele which constantly grew and which re- ceived his ministrations with confidence and gratitude. He belonged to the old school of practitioners which held rigidly to the ethics of the profession, and he would not tolerate sham of any kind.
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.