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 42
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The untimely death of Mr. Sherwood, which occurred at his home in Chicago, Illinois, January 7, 1911, in his fifty-sev- enth year, removed from the world of music the figure that most completely and convincingly represented America's strug- gle for place and recognition among musi- cal nations. His name was a household word all over the country.
HARRIS, Richard Baxter, Business Man.
A young man of fine business ability, Mr. Harris had not the physical strength to meet the constant demands his energy
imposed and he was obliged to retire from active business for a time to recuperate. He elected a trip around the world as the best medium to recover strength and starting from Kansas City, Missouri, where he was then in business, he started via New York. He had accomplished the trip with a great deal of satisfaction until his arrival at Liverpool, England, home- ward bound, when he was stricken with a fatal illness and there died. He was a native son of New York, and from his sixteenth year until removal to Kansas City in 1889 had been engaged in the dry goods business in the city of Rochester. He was a son of Edward and Emma (Hall) Harris, his father a prominent attorney and business man of Rochester.
Richard Baxter Harris was born in Rochester, New York, December 25, 1866, died in Liverpool, England, December 28, 1901, aged thirty-five years. He was edu- cated in private schools, but having a strong desire to enter business, he left school at the age of sixteen to become a clerk in the employ of the Sibley Dry Goods Company. He developed unusual business quality and became a trusted and confidential employe, remaining with the same house seven years. In 1889 he went west, locating in Kansas City, Mis- souri, where he organized and was a part- ner in the Doggett Dry Goods Company. He remained in Kansas City in success- ful business until the failure of his health obliged him to retire. He had nearly com- pleted a tour of the world when the end came in Liverpool, England, and a life of brilliant promise ended. He was a Re- publican in politics, but took no active part in public affairs, although a broad- minded man, deeply interested in all that pertained to good citizenship. He was a member of the Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester.
Mr. Harris married, October 23, 1889,
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Cornelia, daughter of Sylvanus J. and Caroline (Ridgway) Macy, of New York City. Mrs. Harris is a resident of Roches- ter, her home No. 1127 East avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Harris were the parents of three children, all of whom are at the Roches- ter home with their mother: Mary K., married George H. Hawks, and has two sons, George H., Jr., and Thomas H .; Richard Macy, and Edward Harris.
OTIS, General Elwell Stephen, Distinguished Army Officer.
With the death of General Otis there passed from human view a most striking character and one of the heroes developed during that four years of internal strife that plunged the Nation in woe. He was twenty-four years of age when in 1862 he went to the front with the rank of captain and when he was retired with the rank of major-general of the United States army, forty years of military service had been placed to his credit in the records of the war department.
Few men of his period crowded into a life of seventy-one years so varied an experience in different professions, in as many climes as he. Educated for the law and admitted to the bar, he gave up his profession at his country's call and the sword he then took up as the emblem of a new profession, was gallantly wielded for forty years against his country's ene- mies in rebellion in the South, against the wild red warriors of the west and against the brown men of the Philippines. Service in the field was varied by many peaceful honors peculiar to the soldier's profession, service that was performed as ably and faithfully as that in the field. As commander of the army forces at Manila he had a most difficult problem to solve, but with wisdom he pursued an aggres- sive policy toward the foes of the United
States, winning the warm commendation of President Mckinley. The following "soldier's tribute to a soldier" is from the address delivered at his funeral held in the Brick Presbyterian Church in Roch- ester by Rev. Rob Roy Converse, D. D., a clergyman who of all others was best fitted to deliver the eulogy :
One of our great men has fallen. We have met to-day to lay our poor tribute on the bier of one who fought forty years for what he knew to be right. He never faltered in his efforts to bring about right solutions of problems that came within his province and from his career we may draw a valuable lesson. Napoleon was a warrior of the first rank, Richelieu was a most profound diplomat and Seneca was an accom- plished student of mankind and its foibles. All the best characteristics of these three are min- gled in the personality of our dead friend. Few persons in military or civil life have undergone such vicissitudes as those which came to General Otis and none have met those trials with the indomitable serenity and pertinacity which make remarkable the character of the man we are honoring to-day.
Elwell Stephen Otis was born near Frederick City, Maryland, March 25, 1838, and died at his home in Gates, two miles west of Rochester, October 21, 1909, son of William and Mary A. C. (Late) Otis. Early in life he came to Rochester, and ever regarded that city as his home, although so much of his life was spent far from the home of his youth. After gradu- ation from the public schools he entered the University of Rochester, whence he was graduated Bachelor of Arts, also being awarded the key of the Delta Psi fraternity that proclaims excellence in scholarship. After his graduation from the University in 1858, deciding upon the legal profession as the field of activity best suited to his talents, he entered Har- vard Law School, whence he was grad- uated LL. B., class of 1860. He was admitted to the Monroe county bar the
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same year, and until September, 1862, practiced his profession in Rochester, also serving as clerk to the Board of Super- visors. When he became convinced that the struggle between the North and the South was to be a long and bitterly fought contest, he abandoned all thought of a legal career, recruited a company, and on September 13, 1862, went to the front as captain of Company B, One Hundred and Fortieth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, under the command of Colonel Ryan. He saw hard service with the Army of the Potomac under its different commanders, and at the battle of the Wil- derness, where the One Hundred and Fortieth lost Colonel Ryan and three hundred and fifty-five enlisted men and officers, was given command of the sorely ยท stricken regiment. He had previously won promotion to the rank of lieutenant- colonel, "for gallant and meritorious con- duct on the field of battle," his commis- sion dating December 23, 1863, but al- though promoted colonel, he was never mustered into the United States service as such, as his regiment under the then existing orders lacked sufficient numeri- cal strength.
At the battle of Chapel House, fought October 1, 1864, near Petersburg, Colonel Otis received what was thought a neces- sarily fatal wound, but his naturally strong constitution responded to the skillful treatment of his doctors and the constant care of capable nurses, and in due course of time he was again in the field. For gallantry during the Spottsylvania cam- paign he was brevetted colonel and briga- dier-general of volunteers, and prior to receiving his wound had commanded a brigade of the Army of the Potomac.
military experiences had imbued him with a strong desire to become a part of the regular United States army, and upon applying for a commission in keeping with his rank in the volunteer service, was successful. On July 28, 1866, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-second Infantry Regiment, United States Army, and on March 2, 1867, was brevetted colonel. On Febru- ary 8, 1880, he was commissioned colonel of the Twentieth Regiment of Infantry, and for several years was engaged in active service in the West. He com- manded in several campaigns against the Indians in the Northwest, and in one en- gagement on the banks of the Powder river in Montana, with but a handful of men, put a large force of the hostiles to full flight, and in a long pursuit about exterminated the band. He organized the School of Infantry and Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and con- ducted it from 1881 to 1885. Later he was given charge of the important work of abridging and improving the code of army regulations. This work was varied with court-martial assignments, one of which was to serve as judge-advocate of the court which condemned Captain Oberlin M. Carter to a term of imprison- ment for the embezzlement of moneys in connection with harbor work at Savan- nah. On November 28, 1893, he was com- missioned brigadier-general of the regu- lar army.
When in April, 1898, war was declared against Spain, a commingling of regulars and volunteer forces brought about a re- arrangement of army positions. Briga- dier-General Otis of the regular army also became by appointment, major-gen- eral of volunteers, May 4, 1898, and on May 19, 1898, was assigned to duty in San Francisco, in charge of the mobiliz-
On January 24, 1865, he was mustered out of the service and returned to his father's home in Gates. He resumed the practice of law in Rochester. But his ing and shipment of troops to the Philip-
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pines. On July 15 of the same year he sailed for the Philippines, and on August 29 succeeded Major-General Merritt as commander of the United States forces and as governor of the Islands. He had a most difficult duty to perform, subduing the natives and bringing peace to the islands being but a small portion of the burden he carried. But he ruled wisely and well, and when on May 5, 1900, he was relieved at his own request on ac- count of illness, it was his satisfaction to realize that the course he had pursued had resulted in an almost complete pacifi- cation of the important islands, and had received the warm approval of the Presi- dent, publicly and officially expressed. He was brevetted major-general in 1899 for "military skill and most distinguished services in the Philippines," and on June 16, 1900, was commissioned major-gen- eral of the United States army. After his return to the United States, General Otis was placed in command of the Military Department of the Lakes, with headquar- ters at Chicago, assuming that duty Octo- ber 29, 1900, and relinquishing it March 28, 1902, having arrived at the age of sixty-four years, the age of retirement from active military service.
On June 12, 1900, while General Otis. was spending a few days in Rochester be- fore going to his command in Chicago, the friends of his boyhood and his riper years accorded him a notable ovation. After his retirement, when he returned to his boyhood home in Gates, they again ac- corded him generous reception, ovation and congratulation, at the close of a long and most honorable military career. Gen- eral Otis was tried by every test that can be applied to a soldier, and most nobly withstood them all. The battlefield but proved his bravery and thorough familiar- ity with the art and science of war, whether conducted against organized
forces skillfully commanded, against the red men of the frontier, whose cunning supplied the lack of organization, or against the brown men of the Philippines, whose methods were at variance with all recognized practices of warfare. As mili- tary governor, loyalty and faithful per- formance of difficult duty went hand in hand with a wisdom and executive ability that would have brought credit to the trained statesman. And so in every sta- tion he was called to fill during his forty years' service as a soldier.
During the seven years of life spent at his attractive home near Rochester, be- tween his retirement and his death, he took an active interest in political affairs, often serving as a delegate to Republican State conventions and sitting in party councils, his opinions and his advice carrying weight. He observed all the social amenities of life and fraternized with his friends through membership in the Genesee Valley and the Rochester Country clubs. He was a member of the Brick Presbyterian Church, and from its portals was borne to his last resting place in beautiful Mt. Hope, on the shoulders of soldiers of the regular army, march- ing to the strains of appropriate music furnished by the band of the Twenty- fourth Regiment of Infantry, from the military post at Sacketts Harbor. Bat- talions of regular troops from Western New York frontier forts and companies of National Guardsmen from Rochester, with officers of the regular army repre- senting the War Department of the gov- ernment, were the military features of the funeral of Rochester's greatest soldier, while the citizen honorary pallbearers and the many civilians who thronged the church and vicinity proved how close the dead hero was to his fellow citizens.
General Otis married (first) Louise Selden, of Rochester, who bore him two
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daughters: Laura Lee, now Mrs. Harry K. Elston, of Santa Barbara, California, and Mary Louise, now wife of Ralph Isham, of Chicago. He married (second) Mrs. Louise Bowman McAllister, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, their only child a daughter, Louise B., now Mrs. George O. Wagner, of New York City.
VICK, James,
Seedsman, Florist, Philanthropist.
Wherever flowers bloom and grasses grow throughout America the name of this eminent florist is known, loved and honored. To him, more than any other, are the people indebted during the last thirty years for judicious training and stimulating encouragement in the ex- quisite art of floriculture. When extra- ordinary success in life is achieved from the smallest beginnings, and a man dies honored, beloved and beneficent in good deeds, it is natural to ask: "How did he accomplish these results? What princi- ples actuated him? What has made him great?" Let us look at the elements of this man's life, so loved and useful, and take inspiration from the footprints he has left-
Footprints, that perhaps another- Sailing o'er Life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother- Seeing, shall take heart again.
James Vick was born in Portsmouth, England, but came to New York City with his parents when fifteen years old, and was immediately placed by them to learn the printer's trade. After becoming a practical printer, he set type in the com- posing room of the "Knickerbocker Mag- azine" with Horace Greeley, and the friendship begun then continued un- abated through that eminent journalist's life. His youth was singularly pure and free from vice and marked by disinter-
ested kindness to others, respect to his superiors, faithfulness to his parents and daily duties, and reverence for all good things. These years and those to follow were also characterized by a student's love of books and an intense love of nature. His fondness for trees, plants and flowers became a passion. Every spare hour was spent in the study of their nature, habits and beauties, until his knowledge in this line became extensive enough to have compiled a botany, and his later career forcibly justifies the wis- dom of following the bent of one's native taste or talent in study.
After a term of years, Mr. Vick re- moved to Rochester, New York, still pur- suing his trade as compositor in different newspaper offices, and finally buying an interest in the Rochester "Democrat," which after a few months was sold that he might publish a paper called the "North Star," an anti-slavery organ. During this time he contributed frequent racy articles to the "Genesee Farmer," published by the much-lamented Luther Tucker, and not long after became its edi- tor, in 1850 assuming its publication and running its circulation up to fifty thou- sand. Three years later he purchased the "Horticulturist" at Albany, removing it to Rochester. A youth of rectitude, econ- omy, diligence and energy was beginning already to reap success.
In 1857 he became the horticultural edi- tor of the "Rural New Yorker," and then began the seed enterprise which ulti- mately gave him a world-wide reputation. He imported seeds from England and bulbs from Holland, testing them in his own little garden, in which every nook of ground was made available, and so his stock and means increased, little gardens sprung to life on Monroe avenue, Good- man and Main streets, and glowed with beauty. In his paper he described flowers
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and plants, illustrating with engravings- three thousand letters! All these changes thus educating the popular taste. The our dear father lived to see, and yet never was too busy to wear a cheerful face or say a kind word." crisp raciness of his style, illuminated by a genial, kindly soul and devotion to its object, rendered everything from his pen extremely popular. Meanwhile his traffic in seeds was assuming such proportions that from 1860 he decided to give up the remainder of his life to this important business. Gradually he set up his seed and bulb warehouses which became hives of industry, where hundreds of skilled operatives were employed in preparing and sending abroad the products of his gardens, issuing his catalogues and charming "Floral Guide," monthly maga- zine, and other periodicals. Of the "Floral Guide" alone, two hundred and fifty thousand have been mailed yearly.
It was a common occurrence to receive three thousand letters of orders and in- quiries per day, and the postage of this vast establishment often amounted to thirty thousand dollars in one year. Very touchingly does his son allude to the days gone by, "when father brought home in his pocket the entire day's mail, and when he was allowed to earn his first spending money making little seed-bags by the thousand. After supper, father would take the few orders received during the day to an upper room in the house, ar- ranged for this purpose, and there call off the articles named in the order, while his youthful assistant would run around the room, gathering from the boxes the various seeds wanted. The next morn- ing father might be seen carrying a market basket neatly covered over with paper to the post office. This was the extent of our mail then. What a contrast between that and at the time of his death, when, instead of the little four-page cata- logue of early date, he mailed nearly a quarter of a million copies of the "Floral Guide," and often received daily over
Busy he certainly was, and driven by the variety and detail of his business, but not too hurried to keep pure and clean the fountain within, from whence spring all kindly virtues-all noble deeds; not too busy to bend his ear to a child asking for a flower, or to arrange with his own hands a floral offering for some poor widow's dead. We see him now in his beautiful gardens or hothouses, his eyes beaming with pleasure over some open- ing bud, inhaling the delicious fragrance with ever-new delight, or, with animated face discoursing on some new, rare plant with the enthusiasm of an artist. Artist he certainly was. Human life is every- where made up of illusions and hard reali- ties. Of these illusions many are an eter- nal source of joy-such as the images that glow under the poet's wand and the harmonies of color in art and nature. These waken an inner music in the soul and exalt its nature and sympathies. To a very striking degree was this true of Mr. Vick. Hear the poetical ring in his own words:
I have labored to teach people to love and cul- tivate flowers, for it is one of the few pleasures that improve alike the mind and the heart and make every true lover of these beautiful crea- tions of Infinite Love wiser, purer, and nobler. It teaches industry, patience, faith, and hope. It is a pleasure that brings no pain-a sweet with- out a snare. We gaze upon the beautiful plants and brilliant flowers with a delicious commin- gling of admiration and love. They are the off- springs of our forethought, taste, and care-a mysterious and glorious creation. They grow, truly, but very like the stars and the rainbow.
Mr. Vick's vast correspondence and the publication of his "Floral Guide" and a magazine, have rapidly diffused a taste
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for floriculture among the masses hitherto unknown in America. The homes of the poor in the dreariest spots-those of the pioneer in far-off Kansas, Colorado, Ne- braska and Texas-became spots of beauty, blooming like the rose, under Mr. Vick's encouragement and judicious teaching. Many a woman's heart, aching under its limitations and burdens, has found cheer and inspiration to the refine- ments and beauties of existence through his influence. Many a man has been stimulated to efforts for the adornment of his ground and improvements of his home by the charming "Guide" upon his table, who would otherwise have spent his spare moments in idleness or dissipa- tion. Hosts of children have caught the spirit, laying by their hoarded pennies for seeds and plants, and laboring with flushed faces and joyous hearts to "help papa" in the garden, or in their own pri- vate nooks studying the mysteries of seed and bulb.
Far-reaching as the limitless prairies from the rugged coast of Maine has been the influence of this noble life-with its sunny heart and smile, its intense love of nature, its symmetry and order, its stanch integrity, its beneficence and love for hu- manity and God. Say not that such men die.
Were a star quenched on high, For ages would its light, Still traveling downward from the sky, Shine on our mortal sight.
So, when a good man dies, For years beyond our ken The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the paths of men.
Mr. Vick was for many years a corre- sponding member of the Royal Horticul- tural Society of England, and secretary of the American Pomological Society. Frequent communication with foreign
lands sharpened his intellectual life and deepened his already passionate love of the beautiful in nature. Its potent results were seen in the beauty of the parks in his own and other cities and the freedom which he extended to travelers in his own gardens, where a feast of beauty was per- petually spread during the summer months and practical lessons exemplified.
Mr. Vick was superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years in the church where his genial presence so long lent both practical and unconscious aid to the pastor and people. Perhaps nowhere was his great personal mag- netism more conspicuous than among the children. He loved them with all his heart, and the children knew it-as what child does not yield to the potent spell of a child-lover ?
Much of the influence he exerted and success which he attained is due to this strong personal magnetism which he was able to infuse into his publications and correspondence. It was as though a friend took you by the hand and sat by your fireside, or strolled through your gardenplot, sympathizing with your con- dition and circumstances and thoroughly cognizant of your need, and who would in nowise advise you selfishly or un- wisely. Practicing the strictest integrity with both employees and patrons, dis- pensing noble charities and kindness in every walk of life, what wonder that suc- cess crowned the years !
When fatal illness came upon him, Mr. Vick was still planning improvements and and enlargements-still beautifying the grounds which will continue to be a joy to the beholder. So
Death takes us by surprise And stays our hurrying feet; The great design unfinished lies- Our lives are incomplete.
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From the midst of the flowers he loved -those smiles of God-he was carried gently to the gardens of the Lord and crowned with the amaranths of Heaven. To the loving ones about him, when sur- prised by the call of death, he said : "Man may make blunders, but the Lord does all things well. He will take care of you. God bless you all !"-and died as peace- fully as shuts the lily's cup or the roses that he loved so well.
The crowning beauty of his life was seen in his domestic relations. As son, husband, father, his was a life without a flaw. We dare not venture to touch the loss and grief of those who "were brought up by his side with great delight," but as for us, who miss his illuminating pres- ence-
Something is gone from Nature since he died, And summer is not summer, nor can be!
LINDSLEY, Smith M., Lawyer, Man of Affairs.
There was that quality displayed in the life of Smith M. Lindsley that wherever found makes for success and that was the old time, new time, all the time virtue, industry. He was a man of brilliant mind and superior equipment, learned in his profession but that would have all gone for naught without the trait upon which was founded his reputation of be- ing "an almost tireless worker." To that he added its twin virtue courage and he entered every legal contest with fullest preparation and fearless confidence, no matter who, how many, or how eminent the opposing counsel might be. Perhaps no lawyer was ever more devoted to his profession, for to him the law was a "jeal- ous mistress" and no alluring offers of political preferment-and they were many -ever tempted him away from his allegi-
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