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. 3 > Part 3
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In 1889, under a division of the courts, Judge Parker was selected to serve upon the Court of Appeals in a special session -the youngest man to occupy that posi- tion. After the completion of this work, the judiciary of New York City requested Governor Flower to appoint Judge Parker to sit in the general term of the First Department. The Governor com- plied, and Judge Parker added to his celebrity as a jurist, and to such a degree that in 1897 he was made the Demo- cratic nominee for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, and was elected by a majority of 60,889, over the distinguished Judge William J. Wallace (Republican), whereas in the election of the year before, the State had given Mckinley a major- ity of 268,469. This great tribute to his character and talents gave Judge Parker great prestige, and in 1902 he was urgent- ly requested to accept the Democratic
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nomination for Governor, but he was averse from leaving the bench, and de- clined. However, he had become a char- acter of national importance, and in 1904 he was the logical candidate for the presi- dential nomination. In the convention, no other name than his was seriously con- sidered. But one ballot was taken, he receiving 689 out of the 869 ballots cast, and the nomination being made unani- mous. He at once resigned from the bench, and retired to his home at Esopus, on the Hudson river, where during the campaign he received many delegations comprising the influential men of his party. His letter of acceptance was marked by modesty and dignity, as were his few public utterances during the cam- paign. The election resulting in his de- feat, he at once resumed his law practice in New York City, and in which he still continues. He has handled many impor- tant cases and represented many large interests. An incident of his practice was his appearance as counsel for the man- agers of the impeachment trial of Gov- ernor Sulzer, in 1913.
From the year of his political defeat, he has been one of the principal leaders of his party. In 1908 he was a delegate-at- large to the National Democratic Con- vention, and a member of its platform committee ; in the convention of 1912 he was again a delegate-at-large, and tem- porary chairman; and during the same years he occupied similar positions in the Democratic State Convention. He was president of the American Bar Associ- ation in 1906-07; of the New York County Lawyers' Association in 1909-II ; of the New York State Bar Association in 1913 ; and first vice-president of the Amer- ican Academy of Jurisprudence in 1914. He married, October 16, 1873, Mary L., daughter of M. I. Schoonmaker, of Accord, New York.
N Y-Vol IV-2
ABBOTT, Lyman, D. D., Pulpiteer and Writer.
The Rev. Lyman Abbott, D. D., a leader of the "New Theology," who suc- ceeded the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher as pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York, made his own place as a theo- logian and a pastor, while at the same time he maintained the traditions of that well known church to a degree that could hardly have been anticipated. Himself a member of the church for more than thirty years, in sympathy with its doc- trines and its history, he was the natural resource of the church during the anxious period that followed the death of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, when, by his tact and wisdom in utilizing the lessons of affliction, he contributed greatly to the maintenance of lofty ideals and spiritual consecration in the deeply-moved con- gregation. For more than a year he served as acting pastor, until the church, finding that the pastor they sought was already with them, called him to remain permanently, and he served acceptably and usefully until his resignation in 1899.
Rev. Lyman Abbott was born in Rox- bury, Massachusetts, December 18, 1835, third son of Professor Jacob and Harriet (Vaughan) Abbott, and brother of Ben- jamin Vaughan and Austin Abbott, both of whom attained eminence in the law. Professor Abbott was the voluminous author of the famous "Rollo Books," and other series for the young. Lyman Ab- bott was graduated from the University of the City of New York, Bachelor of Arts, 1853, and then became a law student in the offices of his brothers, Benjamin V. and Austin Abbott, who were both suc- cessful practitioners, and under their skill- ful guidance and preceptorship he made rapid strides and was admitted to the New York bar, and for four years the
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three brothers were associated in the active practice of their profession. At the expiration of that period of time, Ly- man Abbott abandoned the law for the ministry, and studied theology under the guidance of his uncle, the Rev. John S. C. Abbott, the historian. He was ordained to the ministry in 1860 and in the same year was offered the pastorate of a Con- gregational church in Terre Haute, Indi- ana, where he remained until 1865, when the secretaryship of the American Union Commission, devoted to the welfare of the freedmen, was offered to him, which position he accepted, the duties of which brought him to New York City. He also entered upon the pastorate of the New England Congregational Church, New York City, and assumed the dual func- tions of the secretaryship and pastorate until 1868, when he resigned the former, and in 1869 he resigned the pastorate, and devoted himself to editorial work on the religious press. For some time he was assistant editor of the "Christian Union," in association with the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and upon the retirement of the latter he became editor-in-chief. His call to Plymouth Church, after the death of its famous pastor, summoned him from the active editorial management of the "Christian Union." A disciple of his former pastor, he had made his paper the leading exponent of the views on theology and church polity which were familiar to Plymouth Church, and unexpectedly, to himself as well as to his church, he found in the historic pulpit a field as surely his own as the editorial sanctum, and in the congregation so great an inspiration that in a very short period of time he became known as a preacher of the first rank. He admirably directed the energies of his people, who were aroused by the death of Mr. Beecher to a new sense of individual responsibility for the future of the church, and who found in the changing
conditions of population about the church ample fields for new work along new lines. His influence with young men was marked, and he possessed the faculty of drawing the congregation closely to him- self through his tact and wisdom in the maintenance of lofty ideals, and also in drawing large audiences of non-church goers over whom he exerted a wonderful influence for good. He resigned the pastorate of Plymouth Church in 1899 in order to devote his effort entirely to the editorial conduct of the "Outlook." He is recognized throughout the country as the representative of liberal thought and progressive theology. He delivered a series of sermonic lectures on "The Bible as Literature," in which he supported the Driver-Briggs variation of the Kuenen- Wellhausen school of higher criticism of the Bible.
For a number of years Dr. Abbott shared with Phillips Brooks and others the discharge of pastoral duties at Har- vard University. He edited the Literary Record of "Harper's Magazine" and of "Illustrated Christian Weekly," being the founder of the latter named in 1871 ; since 1893 editor-in-chief of the "Outlook." He is the author of: "Jesus of Nazareth," "Old Testament Shadows of New Testa- ment Truth," "A Layman's Story," "How to Study the Bible," "Illustrated Com- mentary on the New Testament," 1875; "Dictionary of Religious Knowledge" (with late T. J. Conant) 1876; "A Study in Human Nature," 1885; "In Aid of Faith," 1891; "Life of Christ," 1894; "Evolution of Christianity," 1896; "The Theology of an Evolutionist," 1897; "Christianity and Social Problems," 1897; "Life and Letters of Paul," 1898; "The Life That Really Is," 1899; "Problems of Life," 1900; "Life and Literature of the Ancient Hebrews," 1900; "The Rights of Man," 1901; "Henry Ward Beecher," 1903; "The Other Room," 1904; "The
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Great Companion," 1904; "Christian
Ministry," 1905; "Personality of God,"
1905; "Industrial Problems," 1905; "Christ's Secret of Happiness," 1907; "The Home Builder," 1908; "The
Temple," 1909; "The Spirit of Democ- racy," 1910; "America in the Making," 19II ; and "Letters to Unknown Friends," 1913.
He is a member of the New York Bar Association, American Bar Associ- ation, New York State Historical Asso- ciation, Indian Rights Association, Amer- ican Forestry Association, Remabai Asso- ciation, New York, Association for the Blind, Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, National Confer- ence of Charities and Correction, Aldine Association, the New York University Alumni, American Peace Society, Maine Society, the Religious Educational Asso- ciation, the Armstrong Association, New York Child Labor Commission, National Child Labor Commission, American Insti- tute of Sacred Literature, New York State Conference of Religion, Universal Peace Union, National Civil Service Re- form League, American Economic Asso- ciation, Association for International Con- ciliation, American Academy of Political and Social Science, Prison Association of New York, American Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis, Legal Aid Soci- ety, Italian Immigrant Society, Grenfell Association, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Committee of One Hundred, Com- mittee of Fourteen. His recreations are driving, walking, travel. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from New York University, 1876, Harvard, 1890, and Yale, 1903; that of Doctor of Laws from Western Reserve, 1900, and Amherst, 1908; and that of Doctor of Higher Literature from Miami, 1909.
Rev. Lyman Abbott married, October 14, 1857, Abby Frances Hamlin, daughter of Hannibal Hamlin. She died in 1907.
Children: Lawrence F., Harriet F., Herbert V., Ernest H., Theodore J., and Beatrice V.
LOW, Seth,
Educator, Publicist.
Seth Low, ninth president of Columbia College, and a former mayor of New York City, was born in Brooklyn, New York, January 18, 1850, son of Abiel Abbott and Ellen Almira (Dow) Low ; the father was a prominent merchant in New York City.
Seth Low attended the Brooklyn Poly- technic Institute, and in his sixteenth year entered Columbia College and was graduated four years later at the head of his class. During his last year in college he attended lectures in the Columbia Law School, but did not complete the course, leaving to become a clerk in his father's tea importing house. In 1875 he was admitted to partnership in the firm, and when his father retired in 1879, he was among the partners who suc- ceeded to the business, which was finally liquidated in 1888. Meantime he had become a member of the Chamber of Commerce, in which he soon became use- ful, frequently serving upon important committees, and at times delivering addresses which commanded attention.
During this period, he had become in- terested in social and economic subjects. In 1876 he became a volunteer visitor to the poor, in a movement which reformed and subsequently abolished the out-door relief system in Kings county, and which two years later led to the establishment of the Bureau of Charities, of which he was the first president. In 1880 he was president of the Republican campaign club organized to promote the election of Garfield and Arthur, and the conspicuous success of that body in swelling the party vote, brought its president into public view as a leader of men. As a result, in
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1881 he was elected mayor of Brooklyn on a reform ticket, by a most decided majority ; and as the result of a highly successful administration, marked by various salutary reform measures, among which was that of competitive examina- tion for appointment to municipal posi- tions, he was reelected in 1883, leaving the office in 1886 with a national reputa- tion as a practical reformer and exponent of honest municipal administration. After a visit to Europe, he again engaged in business, in which he continued until 1890, when he was called to the presi- dency of Columbia College (of which he had been a trustee), in succession to Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, and which position he occupied with distinguished usefulness until 1901, when he left it to become mayor of the City of Greater New York. Immediately upon taking up his duties as president of Columbia College, he began to infuse new life into that venerable institution, and his entire management was marked by most wise judgment. In 1890, his first year, the several instruc- tional departments, which had been main- tained independently of each other, were organically united and brought under the control of a university council created for that specific purpose. In the following year the old historic College of Physicians and Surgeons was brought within the university corporation, and the School of Mines was broadened into the Schools of Applied Science. By the year 1892 the university had been so expanded that the old buildings had become inadequate, and a change of location was determined upon. A committee recommended the site of the old Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, on the Morningside Park heights, valued at more than two million dollars, which amount was paid by the year 1894-a result in large measure due to the persistent interest of President Low-and seven and a half million dol-
lars were expended in the erection of the new buildings. The efficiency of the university was further enhanced by the establishment of the Columbia Union Press, for the publication of historic and scientific documents, after the manner of the Oxford Clarendon Press of England. President Low's benefactions during this period were most princely. In 1894 he gave to the university the sum of ten thousand dollars for the endowment of a classical chair in honor of his former teacher, Professor Henry Drisler. In 1895 he gave a million dollars for the erection of the new university library ; and in recognition of his munificence the trustees established twelve university scholarships for Brooklyn boys, and twelve in Barnard College for Brooklyn girls, besides establishing eight annual university scholarships. In 1896 Presi- dent Low gave $10,000 to Barnard Col- lege, and $5,000 to the New York Kinder- garten Association. He was meantime busied with various benevolent and char- itable labors. In 1893, during the cholera epidemic, he rendered useful service as chairman of a committee appointed by the New York Chamber of Commerce to aid the authorities in precautionary measures, and the quarantine camp estab- lished at Sandy Hook by the national government was named Camp Low in his honor. With his brother, Abbott Au- gustus Low, in 1894 he built and pre- sented to the mission station of the Prot- estant Episcopal church in Wu Chang, China, a completely equipped hospital for the use of the mission, and named in memory of their father.
Mr. Low resigned the presidency of Columbia University in 1901, to enter upon the duties of mayor of the City of Greater New York, which position he held for two years, fully sustaining his reputation as an executive, governed by the highest possible standards. Since his
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retirement from that high office he has been busied with personal affairs, giving a large share of his attention to the benevolent and charitable causes which have always commanded his interest. As a master spirit in the field of social and economic science, he has frequently been an arbitrator of labor disputes. In 1900 he succeeded Charles P. Daly, deceased, as president of the American Geograph- ical Society ; and has also served as presi- dent of the Archaeological Institution of America; as vice-president of the New York Academy of Sciences; as president of the American Asiatic Society ; and is president of the National Civic Feder- ation ; trustee of the Carnegie Institution, Washington City ; and is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the New York Academy of Political Science, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Amherst Col- lege in 1889; from the University of the State of New York, from Harvard Univer- sity, from the University of Pennsylvania and from Trinity College in 1890; from Princeton University in 1896; from Yale University in 1901 ; and from the Univer- sity of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1910. He married, December 9, 1880, Annie, daugh- ter of Benjamin R. Curtis, of Boston, Massachusetts.
HILLIS, Newell Dwight, D. D., Clergyman, Author.
Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, the present pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York, one of the most widely known institutions in Brooklyn, is a man whose methods and style are peculiar to him- self, and he is comparable with none other. Orderly and logical in his mental processes, thoroughly trained in theology but too broad-minded to make subtle theological distinctions, a profound lover
of the truth, his teachings are eminently practical and helpful to "all sorts and conditions of men." With wonderful command of language, never hesitating for want of a word or misusing one, his utterances flow with almost poetic rythm. His illustrations, drawn from every-day life and from recollections of scenes of nature, are captivating, and he impresses the hearer with the conviction that he seeks to aid him to a better personal life and a broader scope of mental vision.
Plymouth Church, the scene of his pas- toral labors, had its origin in the desire of the supporters of the Congregational polity to multiply churches of that de- nomination, notwithstanding the opinion of many at the time that Congregational- ism could flourish only in New England, but the immediate and almost unlooked for success of the Church of the Pilgrims, of Brooklyn, then less than two years old, encouraged a contrary belief. In 1846 the church edifice, then recently vacated by the First Presbyterian Church, was purchased, and later the property on Cranberry street, extending to Orange street, where ever since Plymouth Church has stood, was purchased. The church was reopened for religious worship, May 16, 1847, and Henry Ward Beecher, then pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, who had come to New York to make the address at the anniver- sary of the American Home Missionary Society, was invited to preach the open- ing sermon, and after the formal organiza- tion of the church he was unanimously called to the pastorate. The history of the church has been marked by many episodes which have attracted public at- tention. Among them was the vigorous part played by pastor and people in the anti-slavery agitation. More than once living slaves were brought upon its plat- form and their liberty purchased by the congregation. During the Civil War the
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church was foremost in deeds as well as words for the maintenance of the Union and for stimulating a patriotic spirit. The inner life of the church has always been deep and full. It never was a field for religious excitement, though it has shared with other churches the fruits of great revival seasons.
Newell Dwight Hillis was born Sep- tember 2, 1858, at Magnolia, Iowa, a son of Samuel Ewing and Margaret Hester (Reichte) Hillis, and a descendant of a Scotch-English origin, Hyllis being the ancient form of the family name, and his ancestors fought under Cromwell, remov- ing to Ireland after the restoration of the monarchy. Members of the American branch of the family served in the Revolu- tionary War and during the War of 1812. The mother of Dr. Hillis was of German descent.
Dr. Hillis first attended the schools of his native town, completing the course in the high school, after which he was a student in the academy at Magnolia. He supplemented the knowledge thus ob- tained by a course at Lake Forest Univer- sity and in McCormick Theological Semi- nary, graduating at the former named in 1884 and at the latter in 1887, with high honors, receiving the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the former named. In early life his thoughts turned in the direction of the ministry, and when seventeen years of age he be- came a missionary for the American Sun- day School Union, and for two years labored effectively in establishing churches and Sunday schools. He was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1887. His first pastorate was the First Presbyterian Church of Peoria, Illinois, which he served from 1886 to 1889 ; pastor of the church at Evanston, Illinois, 1889 to 1895; Central Church (Independent) Chicago, Illinois, 1895 to 1899; Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, New
York, since January, 1899, succeeding the Rev. Lyman Abbott. Great congregations throng to the church at every service, attracted by the personality of the man and by the bright and earnest discourses he delivers.
The congregation to which Dr. Hillis addresses himself is not to be numbered by those who hear his voice. During his pastorate in Chicago his sermons were published in full in one of the leading daily newspapers, and since his coming to Brooklyn a journal of that city has given them similar publicity. He is also in great demand as a lecturer before lead- ing educational institutions and other important audiences. His lecture on "John Ruskin's Message to the Twentieth Century" has been delivered over two hundred times. He is the author of: "A Man's Value to Society," "How the Inner Light Failed," "Investment of Influence," "Great Books as Life Teachers," "Fore- tokens of Immortality," "Influence of Christ in Modern Life," "Quest of Hap- piness," "Success through Self-Help," "Building a Working Faith," "The Quest of John Chapman," "The Fortune of the Republic," "Contagion of Character," "Anti-Slavery Epoch," "Prophets of a New Era," "Story of Phaedrus," "Lec- tures and Orations of Henry Ward Beecher," and "Message of David Irving." In January, 1902, Dr. Hillis entered upon an effort for the erection of a Beecher Memorial Building adjacent to Plymouth Church. Dr. Hillis received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Northwestern University in 1892, and L. H. D. from Western Reserve University.
Dr. Hillis married in Chicago, Illinois, April 14, 1887, Annie Louise Patrick, daughter of R. M. Patrick, of Marengo, Illinois. Children: Richard Dwight, born 1888; Marjorie Louise, 1889; Nathalie Louise, 1900.
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CORTELYOU, George Bruce, Man of Affairs, Cabinet Officer.
George Bruce Cortelyou, who had the distinction of holding confidential rela- tions to three presidents of the United States-Cleveland, Mckinley and Roose- velt-was born in New York City, July 26, 1862, son of Peter Crolius and Rose (Seary) Cortelyou, and descended from Captain Jacques Cortelyou, who was in New Amsterdam (New York) prior to 1657, in which year he aided in making the first map of the place, and also in the erection of the wall which gave the name to Wall street.
He was of remarkably studious disposi- tion. After graduating from the Hemp- stead (Long Island) Institute at the age of seventeen, he entered the Normal School at Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1882. For a time he was a school teacher at Cambridge, Massachusetts, meantime studying music, but soon returned to New York to continue his musical studies. From 1883 to 1885 he was associated with James E. Munson as a law reporter. In 1889 he became a stenographer and type- writer in the customs service, and after a year was transferred to Washington City, where he served under Postmaster- General Bissell, and on the recommenda- tion of that official became secretary to President Cleveland in 1895. While en- gaged in the two last-named positions he studied law in the law schools of George- town and George Washington universi- ties, and graduated from both. On Presi- dent Cleveland's retirement in March, 1897, he became (on recommendation of Mr. Cleveland) assistant secretary to President McKinley, in which position his duties were exceedingly arduous owing to the ill health of Secretary John A. Por- ter (whom he ultimately succeeded), and the exactions of the Spanish-American War period. He was at the side of Presi-
dent Mckinley when that great American was prostrated by the bullet of the assas- sin, and remained at the bedside of his chief until death closed the vigil. The very close relationship in which he stood to the late President and his family is evidenced by the fact that Mrs. McKinley declined to act as executrix of her hus- band's will, and named Mr. Cortelyou, with Judge Day, to act in her stead. When Vice-President Roosevelt succeed- ed to the Presidency, he retained Mr. Cortelyou as secretary until the creation of the new Department of Commerce and Labor, to which he at once appointed Mr. Cortelyou, who at once entered upon the great task of organization. Mr. Cortel- you not only succeeded masterfully in his new position, but as chairman of the Re- publican National Committee he aided largely in the election of his chief to the presidency, and at the beginning of Presi- dent Roosevelt's administration was called to his cabinet as Postmaster-Gen- eral. In his new position he displayed masterly qualities, and instituted numer- ous salutary reforms, establishing the good behavior tenure for fourth-class postmasters, extending rural free delivery and instituting a parcels delivery system, protecting the service more efficiently against uses for fraudulent and immoral purposes, and also materially reducing the annual deficit in the accounts of his department. On March 4, 1907, Leslie M. Shaw resigned the Treasury secretary- ship, and Mr. Cortelyou was made his successor. Within a few months a mone- tary panic set in, resulting in the suspen- sion of numerous strong financial houses. The condition was considerably ameli- orated by Mr. Cortelyou's judicious dis- tribution of funds to points where the monetary stringency was most severe, but the relief was only partial, and re- sulted in Mr. Cortelyou recommending more adequate provisions, a suggestion
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