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STRONG, Augustus H., Scholar, Author, Theologian.
Augustus Hopkins Strong, scholar, author, theologian, son of Alvah and Catherine (Hopkins) Strong, was born in Rochester, August 3, 1836. He is of pure Puritan lineage, his ancestor, Elder John Strong, of the Congregational order, hav- ing settled in Plymouth in 1639 where he passed a godly life. He had eighteen
children ; his eldest son had fifteen. In the maternal line, descent is claimed from Stephen Hopkins, who came over in the "Mayflower" (q. v. sketch of Samuel M. Hopkins). Alvah Strong, the father of Augustus H. Strong, was born July 18, 1809, and died April 20, 1885. He came to Rochester in 1821 ; learned the printer's trade; worked in the Albany "Evening Journal;" became proprietor (chief) of the Rochester "Democrat"; retired from business in 1859; was deacon in the Bap- tist church for thirty years; was a founder and the first treasurer of the Rochester Theological Seminary. He was a genial, friendly, quiet man, with great interest in the cause of education and in the prosperity of his church, liberal to a fault and beloved by all who knew him.
Augustus H. Strong received his pre- liminary education in the schools of his native city, and took a full classical course in Yale College, from which he was graduated in 1857 with high standing as a scholar, receiving many prizes in English composition, and the gold De- Forest Medal for public speaking. Two years later he was graduated from the Rochester Theological Seminary, of which he was to be long the honored head. He spent the latter portion of 1859 and all of 1860 in pleasurable and improv- ing travel in Europe, and upon his return in 1861 he was ordained to the Baptist ministry with his first pastorate that of the First Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts, from 1861 until 1865. Thence he was called to the First Church of Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained until 1872. In both these charges he was notably distinguished for the zeal and fidelity with which he discharged his pastoral duties and for the clearness, strength and spirituality of his pulpit utterances as well as for the vital Chris- tianity that informed them, the sincerity,
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skill and valor with which he expounded its doctrines, and this without bigotry or the mere delight of belligerency. He was the honorable and enlightened inter- preter of his creed, and while still a young man he was eminent as a theo- logian.
Thus equipped as a scholar and theo- logian he accepted, in 1872, the call to the presidency and the Chair of Systematic Theology in the newly established Rochester Theological Seminary and dedicated himself to the work of training young men for the gospel ministry, in an institution in which he was already deeply interested and which his father had been largely instrumental in establishing. Therein he served continuously for forty years, becoming president emeritus in 1912; increasing its endowments from less than $200,000 to more than $2,000,- 000; securing faculties, numbers of the members of which are famous in their departments; enlarging the body of students and, more than all, impressing his personality and teachings upon the licentiates, many of whom have made their mark as preachers of the world, so that through his various activities in its behalf the institution ranks among the first of the seminaries of the great Baptist denomination. Meanwhile he has been in constant request and has generously responded to the demands made upon him for sermons on ceremonial occasions, for missionary objects, and for many secular addresses, also thereby attaining ex- tended repute for his oratorical gifts. He has been distinctively honored by high and responsible positions in the church. Among other trusts he has held the presi- dency of the American Baptist Mission- ary Union, 1892-95, and that of the Gen- eral Convention of Baptists of North America, 1905-10. Honorary degrees from leading universities have been freely conferred upon him-Doctor of Divinity
by Brown, 1870; Yale, 1890; Princeton, 1896; Doctor of Laws by Bucknell, 1891 ; and Alfred, 1894; and Doctor of Litera- ture by Rochester, 1912.
Dr. Strong has been a voluminous author. His principal theological work is "Systematic Theology" published in 1886, with six editions ensuing until 1903 and revised and enlarged in three volumes in 1908. It is a standard theological work highly regarded and adopted as a text- book in the seminaries. Its principal propositions are: (1) Conscience in man as reflecting the holiness of God; (2) Christ as God manifested in bearing human sin and redeeming from it; (3) The unity, sufficiency and authority of Scripture. "Philosophy and Religion" appeared in 1888; "Christ in Creation and Ethical Monism" in 1899. "The Great Poets and Their Theology," a splendid work considered from both the philo- sophic and the literary point of view, was issued in 1907. The "great poets" dis- cussed are Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shake- speare, Milton, Goethe, Wordsworth, Browning and Tennyson. A supplemen- tary work, "American Poets and Their Theology," treating of Bryant, Emerson, Whittier, Longfellow, Poe, Lowell, Holmes, Lanier and Whitman-is in press as this is written (July, 1916). Other printed volumes of Dr. Strong are "Union with Christ," "Miscellanies, His- torical and Theological," "One Hundred Chapel Talks to Theological Students" and "Lectures on the Books of the New Testament."
Dr. Strong is prominent in scholarly activities, member of the Alpha Chi (ministerial), "Pundit" (literary) and the Browning (literary) clubs, to each of which he has contributed valuable papers. He is also a member of the Yale Chapter of Psi Upsilon.
Dr. Strong married (first) Harriet Louise Savage, of Rochester, November
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6, 1861. She died July 8, 1914. Of this union there are six children, viz: I. Charles Augustus, born November 28, 1862; psychologist ; who married Bessie, daughter of John D. Rockefeller, March 22, 1889; she died November 14, 1906. 2. Mary Belle, born August 29, 1864; mar- ried Dr. Robert G. Cook, June 2, 1892. 3. John Henry, born December 7, 1866; pastor of the Eutaw Place Baptist Church, Baltimore, Maryland; who mar- ried Eliza Livingston McCreery, June 20, 1894. 4. Kate Louise, born February 10, 1870; who married Rev. Charles G. Sewell, January 16, 1900. 5. Cora Har- riet, born February 10, 1870, unmarried. 6. Laura Rockefeller, born June 19, 1884; who married Edmund H. Lewis, June I, 1910. Dr. Strong married (second) Mrs. Marguerite G. Jones, of Rochester, Janu- ary 1, 1915.
WARFIELD, Frederic Parkman, Attorney-at-Law.
Frederic Parkman Warfield is a native of this State, where his grandfather was a pioneer settler, a scion of a very old Maryland family. Richard Warfield, un- doubtedly of English parentage, settled near Annapolis, Maryland, in 1662. His home was west of Crownsville, Anne Arundel county, and his estate bordered on Round Bay of Severn. It is apparent that he was a man of means, as his rent roll shows the possession of various estates, known as "Warfield," "Warfield's Right," "Hope," "Increase," "Warfield Plains," "Warfield Forest," "Warfield Addition," "Brandy," and "Warfield Range." Some of these came through the inheritance of his wife. In 1670 he mar- ried Elinor, daughter of Captain John Browne, of London, who operated mer- chant vessels between London and An- napolis. The estates known as "Hope" and "Increase" were purchased by him in
1673 and came into possession of his daughter, Mrs. Warfield. Richard War- field was a member of the vestry of St. Ann's Church, was also a military officer, and died in 1703-04. His third son, Alex- ander Warfield, was a surveyor, and received lands by inheritance from his father, one mile south of the present Millersville. This is the only portion of the original estate now held by descend- ants. Alexander Warfield was on a com- mittee for extending Annapolis, and in 1720 surveyed a tract of thirteen hundred acres, known as "Venison Park," which he divided between his sons Alexander and Absolute. He was also the owner of "Benjamin's Discovery," "Warfield's Addition," and "Brandy." He married Sarah, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Pierpont, who had an estate on the Severn river. Their youngest son, Rich- ard (2) Warfield, inherited "Brandy" from his father on which he resided. He, married Sarah, daughter of John and Agnes (Rogers) Gaither, and they had sons Lancelot and Richard. Richard (3) Warfield, son of Richard (2) and Sarah (Gaither ) Warfield, resided at "Brandy," which he inherited jointly with his brother, and later sold to the brother his share, and removed to Frederick county, Maryland. He married (first) Nancy, daughter of Thomas Gassoway, and (second) Anna Delashmutt, daughter of Elias and Betsey (Nelson) Delashmutt, the latter a daughter of John Nelson, of Frederick county. The only son of the second marriage was Lindsey Delash- mutt Warfield, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving in the State of New York, and participating in the battle of Lundy's Lane. He was so pleased with interior New York that he settled there after the close of the war, locating at Rushville, Yates county, near the beau- tiful Canandaigua Lake. He married Elizabeth L'Amoreaux, and two of their
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sons were Union soldiers in the Civil War, made prisoners, and confined in Libby and Andersonville prisons. One of these, Charles H., was among the first to enlist in the State of New York, and became a first lieutenant in a New York infantry regiment. Another, Myron Franklin, was born in 1840 at Rushville, and lived at Prattsburg, Steuben county, New York. He married, October 25, 1866, Frances Helena Parkman Green, daughter of Robert and Sophia (Park- man) Green, granddaughter of Captain Henry Green, a pioneer of Rushville, born 1762, in Killingly, Connecticut, and de- scended from Thomas Green, who was among the first settlers of Malden, Mas- sachusetts. They had children: Charles Henry, born 1867; Carrie Isabelle, Anna Delashmutt, Richard Nelson, Frederic Parkman, Augustus Bennett, born July 24, 1878; the last named a captain in the United States regular army.
Frederic Parkman Warfield, second son of Myron Franklin and Frances Helena Parkman (Green) Warfield, was born January 24, 1876, in Prattsburg, where he attended the public schools, and was afterward, for five years, a student at Canandaigua Academy. Entering Hamil- ton College in 1892, he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts four years later. He at once entered the Columbia Law School at Washington, D. C. (now Washington University), from which he was graduated in 1899, and in the same year was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia. During the three years that he was a law student he was an examiner in the United States Patent Office at Washington. In 1901 he was admitted to the New York bar, and since that time has been engaged in the general practice of his profession in New York City, making a specialty of patent trade marks and corporation law. On coming to New York he became a member of the
firm of Duell, Megrath & Warfield, which firm continued four years, when its head, Charles H. Duell, was appointed a judge on the bench of the District of Columbia, and retired from the firm. This then continued as Warfield & Duell, including Mr. Holland S. Duell. When Judge Duell retired from the bench in 1907 he again became a partner of the firm, which is now known as Duell, Warfield & Duell. Mr. Warfield has been engaged in many important law cases involving large finan- cial considerations, notable among which was "Bethlehem Steel Company vs. Niles- Bement-Pond Company," in the Circuit Court of Appeals. In acknowledgment of his efficient services in this case, his English clients, namely, the English As- sociation of Steel Makers, presented him with a beautiful silver cup, bearing the following inscription :
Presented to Mr. Frederic P. Warfield by the English High Speed Steel Makers In Grateful Appreciation of his Brilliant advocacy in the case of Bethlehem Steel Company vs. Niles-Bement-Pond Company The successful result of which secured the con- tinued entry of their steel into the markets of the United States of America. March, 1910. "Try it and See."
With his firm, Mr. Warfield has figured in many very celebrated cases, involving electrical and optical arts. He is a member of the New York County Lawyers' Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also a member of the Signa Phi fraternity, the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni of New York City, and the Colonial Order of the Acorn, whose festal occasions have been some times enlivened by his services as
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toastmaster. Mr. Warfield is associated with various clubs, including Union League, Apawamis Country, University, Down Town, St. Nicholas, Ardsley Coun- try, and the Fort Schuyler Club of Utica, New York. He emulates the military example of his forbears as a member of Squadron A, a cavalry division of the National Guard State of New York.
WERNER, Christopher C., Lawyer.
The legal career which Mr. Werner has pursued with distinguished success began in 1885 when he began practice with his brother, the eminent jurist, Wil- liam E. Werner, and afterward with George H. Harris as Werner & Harris has continued. This record shows con- tinuous practice during a period of thirty-one years and no lawyer has higher reputation. He is greatly admired by the judges of the courts before whom he practices for his uniform courtesy, high professional standards and his evident desire to aid the court in the administra- tion of justice. To his clients he gives devoted service, drawing from his deep learning and rich experience in their behalf. He is a man of inbred courtesy and gentlemanly in his treatment of friend or opponent, his genial nature winning him many friends whom his manly qualities ever retain.
He is a son of William and Agnes (Koch) Werner, of German birth, but married in the United States, establish- ing their home in Buffalo, New York. Four children were born to William and Agnes Werner: Judge William E. Werner, the eminent jurist whose recent death shocked the State and whose career forms an interesting and valuable feature of this work; Louise, who mar- ried John Steinmiller, of Buffalo; Lena, married Carl Betz, whom she survived;
and Christopher C., to whom this sketch is dedicated.
Christopher C. Werner was born in Buffalo, New York, November 27, 1859. After extended courses in public and private schools in Buffalo, he was variously employed until reaching his majority when he began the study of law with his brother, Judge William E. Werner, of Rochester. He was admitted to the Erie county bar in Buffalo and on January 7, 1885, began practice with his brother under the firm name of Werner & Werner. That association continued for ten years until January 1, 1895, when the senior partner was elevated to the Supreme Bench. Christopher C. Werner then admitted to partnership George H. Harris, a young man who had studied under Werner & Werner. The new firm, Werner & Harris, enjoyed a large prac- tice from the beginning and as the years have progressed have added to their early prestige. No law firm at the Monroe county bar is held in higher esteem and none bear their honors more worthily. Mr. Werner is a member of the Roches- ter Bar Association, is a member of lodge, chapter, council and commandery of the Masonic order. His club is the Rochester and in all these bodies he is highly esteemed, his friendly, genial nature ex- panding under the social influence of friends and brethren. In political faith he is a Republican.
Mr. Werner married, November 16, 1887, Anna Van Marter, of Lyons, New York. They are the parents of two daughters: Jean A. and Catherine.
OVIATT, Percival DeWitt, Attorney-at-Law.
As an active member of the New York bar practicing in Rochester since 1901, Mr. Oviatt has won the commendation of his associates and the confidence of the
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public he serves. His fifteen years of practice have brought him an unusual meed of success and as experience has been added to learning and ability, he has advanced in strength as an advocate and counselor, his docket showing that in hard fought contests of legal importance he has well deserved the confidence reposed in him. He is a son of Wilson D. (2) Oviatt, born in Rochester, and a grandson of Wilson D. (1) Oviatt, an early settler of Rochester who owned and operated a flour mill and manufactured barrels in which to pack the product of his own and other mills. This founder of the family in Rochester was a champion of law, order and progress in the rapidly growing community and among other service he rendered was assuming control of the police force as its chief. His enter- prise as a business man was a contribut- ing factor to the development of the city, while his efforts in behalf of public safety gave assurance to new comers that Rochester was to be the abode of law and security. Wilson D. (2) Oviatt was for a number of years connected with the James Vick Seed House of Rochester, later establishing in business for himself as a florist. He married Caroline Hankey, of Canadian birth.
Percival DeWitt Oviatt, son of Wilson D. (2) and Caroline (Hankey) Oviatt, was born in Rochester, New York, April 30, 1876. He obtained his preparatory and classical education in the city public schools, Rochester Free Academy and the University of Rochester, receiving his Bachelor of Arts at graduation from the last named institution with the class of "98." He prepared for the practice of his profession at Columbia Law School, New York City, and in 1900 was graduated Bachelor of Laws and admitted to the Monroe county bar. He at once began practice at Rochester and is there well
established, serving a large clientele in all courts of the district. He formed a partnership with S. Wile under the firm name of Wile & Oviatt, A. L. Gilman is also now a member of the firm, their offices are at No. 1232 Granite Building. Mr. Oviatt is a member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the Roches- ter Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Associa- tion, the Rochester Club and the fra- ternity Delta Psi.
Mr. Oviatt married, June 1, 1904, Helen Louise Moody, of Rochester, and they have a daughter, Helen Jean Oviatt.
FOLLMER, Charles Jennen, Manufacturer.
After the Civil War closed in 1865 Charles J. Follmer, then in his sixteenth year, but a veteran Union soldier, was appointed to a cadetship at West Point in recognition of his services as drummer boy and orderly to General Edwin R. Biles of the Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. But the lad had perhaps seen enough of war, or there may have been other reasons for declining the ap- pointment. Had he not done so the com- mercial world would have been the loser as Mr. Follmer is now a member of Foll- mer, Clogg & Company, who own and operate at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the largest umbrella manufacturing plant in the whole world.
So whatever the influence that presided at fate's keyboard the day he chose the arts of peace rather than the more spectacular soldier's career, no mistake was made, but as Mr. Follmer reviews his career from the heights of success, the thought must often come, "What and where would I be had I chosen the other path on that fateful August day, sleeping in a soldier's grave or high on the Roll
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of Fame among America's military heroes ?" He is a son of Mark and Louise (Jennen) Follmer, his father a miller.
Charles Jennen Follmer was born in New York City, January 10, 1850, and until his fifteenth year attended the public schools of the city. He then enlisted as a drummer boy and also served as orderly to General Edwin R. Biles of the Ninety- ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry. He was wounded and captured by the Confederates at the battle of Hatcher's Run in Virginia, but two days later was recaptured by Union forces. He served with the Army of the Potomac until the war closed, then was honorably discharged and appointed to a cadetship at the United States Military Academy, West Point.
Declining the honor he entered the employ of William A. Drown & Com- pany, umbrella manufacturers, in August, 1865, and until 1887 was connected with that firm, rising from lowly position through increasingly responsible posi- tions until in 1879 he was admitted junior partner. His twenty-two years of ex- perience in different departments thor- oughly qualified him for the next import- ant step in his remarkable career-the founding of the firm of Follmer, Clogg & Company in 1887. As head of that firm he has won his way to the highest pin- nacle of business success as a manufac- turer, and at Lancaster the silk mills, where their own silk used in the manu- facture of umbrellas is made and thrown, the silk mill at Columbia, Pennsylva- nia, and the vast factories at Lancaster where frames and handles are made and the umbrellas finished and shipped to all parts of the world, constitute the largest umbrella manufacturing plant not only in the United States, but in the entire world. This is Mr. Follmer's record of half a century in his principal activity only. He is vice-president and
director of the Colonial Insurance Com- pany, chairman of the advisory committee of the Great Western and New York and Boston Lloyds and National Under- writers. He is a power in the business world and one of the strong men of New York, able, progressive, and public- spirited.
Mr. Follmer is president of the Ninety- ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Association, member of the Pennsylvania Society, Merchants' Association of New York, Metropolitan Museum, Fifth Ave- nue Association, Museum of Natural His- tory, Philharmonic Society, and in religious affiliation a member of Ply- mouth Congregation. His clubs are the Aero, Automobile of America, Arcola Country, Deal Golf and Country, New York Yacht, Merchants' and Press. These clubs are the best index to his pre- ferred recreations and he is a well-known figure in all.
He married in New York City, in 1872, Theresa Florence, daughter of Michael and Ellen (Green) McCormack. They have three children : Willis Mark ; Adele Regina, married Joseph A. Kelley, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; Beatrice, mar- ried A. A. Higgins. The family summer residence is at Ocean avenue, Deal, New Jersey, the city residence No. 312 River- side drive.
LAUTERBACH, Edward,
Lawyer.
From progressive and enterprising an- cestors Mr. Lauterbach has derived a love of liberty and a far reaching interest in the welfare of mankind. For more than four centuries his family flourished in the hill country of Bavaria, their seat being in the town of Burgkundstadt, near the historic city of Nuremberg, the acknowledged center for many years of the liberal party of Germany. The family
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was especially active in the professions and in mercantile life. One of the most prominent of these was Aaron Wolfgang Lauterbach, born 1752, died 1826, a graduate of the University of Prague, noted for his erudition and also for a peculiar fund of wit and humor. Of his six children, the youngest, Solon Lauter- bach, was born in 1806. Under the political tyranny which oppressed Ger- many at that time, he grew restless, and eight years before the revolution of 1848 he left his ancestral home to find asylum in free America. After twenty years' residence in New York City, he died here in 1860. His wife, Mina (Rosenbaum) Lauterbach, came of a family noted for intellectual gifts, which she inherited in remarkable degree. She possessed a strong memory, was noted as a Shake- spearian scholar, and was able to quote literally multitudes of poetical gems from various authors. She survived her hus- band some thirty years, dying in 1890, and left three children.
Edward Lauterbach was born August 12, 1844, in New York City. He received his education in the public schools and the College of the City of New York, from which he was graduated Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in 1864. For several years he was vice-president of the alumni of this college, was a member of one of its Greek letter fraternities, and always took an active interest in its welfare. He subsequently received from his alma mater the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, and received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Manhat- tan College. Adopting the law as his lifework, he began his studies in the offices of Townsend, Dyett & Morrison, and with Mr. Morrison founded the firm of Morrison, Lauterbach & Spingarn. After the termination of this partnership through the death of Mr. Spingarn, a new firm was formed, known as Hoadly,
Lauterbach & Johnson. In addition to his large general practice, Mr. Lauter- bach is prominent as a railroad organizer, and was instrumental in bringing about the consolidation of the Union and Brook- lyn Elevated roads, the creation of the Consolidated Telegraph & Electrical Subway, and has been concerned in the reorganization of many railroads. While not an active politician, Mr. Lauterbach is deeply interested in public progress, and was several years chairman of the Republican County Committee of New York, and of the advisory committee of the Republican State Committee. He was delegate-at-large from New York to the Republican National Convention of 1896, a member of its committee on reso- lutions, and of the sub-committee of nine which drafted the Republican platform of that year. He was one of the three delegates-at-large from the city of New York to the Constitutional Convention of 1894, and chairman of its committee on public charities. He was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, and has been chairman of the City College Board of Trustees. He is a director of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and other charities. While he has been professionally and per- sonally associated with the largest finan- cial and commercial enterprises of the country, and with the leaders of con- temporary business and finance in New York, Mr. Lauterbach finds time for relaxation, and is especially devoted to music and the drama. At one time he was vice-president of the Maurice Grau Opera Company. He is never too busy to give some attention to questions con- cerning the general welfare and progress of his native country.
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