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 45
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
310
билац
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
position of principal of that institution and from the fall term of 1883 until the close of the school year in 1886 he ably filled that position. In 1886 he was ad- mitted to the Monroe county bar and has steadily pursued his profession until the present time (1916) practicing in all State and Federal courts of the district. He is a member of the local and state bar asso- ciations, very popular with his brethren and highly esteemed by all.
In 1890 Mr. Taylor published "Cita- tions of Hun" in fifty-three volumes of the Supreme Court Reports; in 1900 "Citations of the New York Miscellane- ous Reports"; in 1901 "Citations of the New York Court of Appeals Reports"; in 1902 the New York "Appellate Di- vision Report"; in 1904 "Analyzed Cita- tions of New York Supplementary Re- ports"; in 1906 a new series of "Analyzed Citations of the New York Court of Appeals," also Supreme Court and mis- cellaneous reports. Subsequently, Mr. Taylor, at the request of New York lawyers, published a general supplement to the above mentioned, covering the Common Law, Chancery, Surrogate, etc. Reports, as well as the Civil, Criminal and Penal Codes, and the Consolidated Laws. Some idea of the magnitude of the labor performed by Mr. Taylor as author and publisher of these works may be gained from the fact that they contain over eight hundred and ten thousand cita- tions.
Mr. Taylor married, December 29, 1875, Effie, daughter of Hiram Davis, of Rochester. They are the parents of four children : Mortimer, died in 1892; Her- bert R., married Laura Farwell, of Holley, New York, in August, 1912; Helen D .; Marion, married Herbert H. Bohachek, in November, 1915. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi and the Phi Beta Kappa fraternities, a member
of Valley Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, a Progressive Republican in poli- tics, and in religious faith a Methodist, member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church.
CONWAY, Thomas Franklin, Lawyer, Lieutenant-Governor.
Thomas Franklin Conway is a native of the State of New York, born May 4, 1862, at Chesterfield, Essex county, a son of John and Mary (Collins) Conway. His parents were natives of Ireland, came to America when young, and settled in the northern part of New York, where the father was a successful farmer. Thomas F. Conway was reared upon the paternal farm, and in youth attended the common school adjacent. Subsequently he was a student at Keeseville Academy, from which he was graduated in 1878, and thereafter, for some time, engaged in teaching. While thus occupied he de- voted his vacations and spare time to the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1885. Immediately thereafter he established himself in practice at Keese- ville, and in 1890 removed to Plattsburgh, New York, where, within a few years, he became a member of the firm of Weeds, Smith & Conway, which was formed to take over the business of the noted firm of Palmer, Weed, Kellogg &. Smith, which had been dissolved upon the eleva- tion of Mr. Kellogg to the Supreme Court Bench. The firm therefore was launched under the most favorable auspices, with an established prestige, and its business grew very rapidly, no small portion of its advancement being due to the initiative ability of the junior partner. As much of its business came before the courts of New York City, in 1899, the firm of Smith, Conway & Weed was formed to conduct business in that city, and the
3II
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
style of the Plattsburgh firm was changed to Weeds, Conway & Cotter. Later the New York firm became Conway & Weed, with offices in Nassau street. Mr. Weed retired from the firm in 1912 and Mr. Conway continued practice at the same address and also his interest in the Platts- burgh firm. Mr. Conway has been very active before both State and Federal courts, having been leading counsel in many large cases. He was especially prominent in the litigation growing out of the New York Subway, and was most successful in handling cases which in- volved great sums of money.
At an early period in his life, Mr. Con- way began to take an interest in political movements, and cast his fortunes with the Democratic party, in whose principles he sincerely believes. For many years he has been a leading speaker in national and State campaigns, and was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held in Chicago, in 1896, and that at Kansas City, in 1900. In 1898 he accepted the nomination of his party for attorney-gen- eral of New York State, and again, in 1900, consented to be its candidate for the same office. In 1908 his friends in Northern New York urged very strongly his nomination as the party candidate for governor, and two years later, though not a candidate, the State Convention placed him in nomination for the office of lieu- tenant-governor, to which he was tri- umphantly elected in November, follow- ing. He declined to be a candidate for re- nomination to the office of lieutenant- governor owing to the demands of his large law practice and his many impor- tant business interests. On every occa- sion when he was a candidate, the people of his home locality rallied earnestly and cordially to his support, a very high compliment to his ability and standing, and his strength was shown by his in- creased vote over his fellow candidates.
He has never abandoned the interests of the section in which he was born and reared, and has done much in a private way in aiding worthy young men who sought to become established in the prac- tice of law. This has assured to him the loyalty and friendship of his home section of the State, especially, and he has con- tinued to enjoy the esteem and confidence of his contemporaries in all quarters. He continues to retain an interest in farming, and is himself a practical agriculturist, giving attention to his landed estate in Northern New York. While Mr. Conway has been showered with honors by his political party, he has never been a seeker after office. Because of his faith in the underlying principles of his party, he has ever been ready to give his efforts in its support. When he was first a candidate for attorney-general, he ran many thou- sand votes ahead of his ticket, and on every occasion his showing at the polls has proved the advantage which the ticket enjoyed through bearing his name. He continues to make his home in Northern New York, and to give unsparingly of his advice and services in every movement calculated to promote its highest welfare. He is unmarried.
TAYLOR, Irwin,
Lawyer, Librarian.
Since graduation from the Ohio College of Law in 1868, Mr. Taylor has been at different periods an active member of the bar of the States of Ohio, Kentucky, Kan- sas, Illinois and New York. For the past quarter of a century he has been a mem- ber of the Monroe county bar, and since 1900 has been librarian for the appellate division of the fourth department, that library consisting of about 35,000 vol- umes, being one of the best law book col- lections in the State. Actual court room practice has not appealed to Mr. Taylor
312
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
as has the literary side of his profession, although prior to his locating in Topeka, Kansas, in 1880, he conducted general practice in Paris and Covington, Ken- tucky. He is a well-known author of law books and is a law editorial writer, while as a law librarian and authority he has no superiors in the State.
Irwin Taylor was born in Maysville, Kentucky, was educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, completing his law courses and re- ceiving his degree from Ohio College of Law in 1868. He was admitted to the Ohio bar the same year, also to the Ken- tucky bar, practicing in both Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, for a time, but later located in Paris, Ken- tucky, where he remained until 1880. In that year he went West, locating at Topeka, Kansas, where he became assis- tant attorney-general. While in Topeka he published a number of law books, in- cluding the Statutes of Kansas, and be- came well known in legal circles. He later came East, locating in Chicago, where until 1892 he was engaged in edi- torial law work. He came to Rochester in 1892, and soon afterward was ap- pointed assistant librarian of the law library, serving as assistant until 1900, when he was appointed to his present position, librarian for the law library of the appellate division of the fourth de- partment, located in the Court House at Rochester.
Mr. Taylor is well qualified for the position he fills, his intellectual attain- ments and his legal learning and experi- ence, his intimate knowledge of law books, statutes and reports combining to render him eminently fit to advise and direct patrons of the library. His private library is a large and complete one, rich in legal lore of every State. A ripe scholar and strong intellectually, he is as much at home in the wide field of litera- ture as in the realm of law, and is a most
discriminating reader. Honorable and high minded, he occupies an enviable position among his brethren of the pro- fession, they according him their highest esteem and respect. The strength of his private life and character adds dignity as well as usefulness to the position which he holds, and all feel that he is a man in whom perfect confidence may be placed.
Mr. Taylor is a veteran of the Civil War, his service having been mostly as an enlisted member of the Independent Irregular Cavalry under the immediate command of Captain S. W. Bard, of Cin- cinnati, Ohio. For a time he was on scout and picket duty under General Lew Wallace, but his service was mostly in Kentucky during the raids made by the Confederate troops under Generals Kir- by, Smith and Morgan. He is a member of the New York Library Association and of several professional and social organi- zations.
Mr. Taylor married, in 1872, Lizzie Hall, of Paris, Kentucky, who died in 1906, leaving three sons and three daugh- ters: Huston Taylor, of Detroit, Michi- gan; J. Irwin Taylor, located in New York City; J. Hall Taylor, inventor and manager of the American Spiral Pipe Company, of Chicago; Mary B., residing with her father; Mrs. Elizabeth C. Mul- liner, of Fairport, New York; and Mrs. Lucy Sanders, of Thomasville, Georgia.
FOOLE, Harry Otis," Lawyer.
A practitioner at the Monroe county bar for the past twenty-two years, Mr. Poole has well accounted for those years as his present rank at that bar amply testifies. His practice, general in char- acter, is conducted in all State and Fed- eral Courts of the district, his records of legal victories won being very large, in- cluding some of the celebrated cases tried
313
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
in the courts of Western New York. He is learned in the law, skillful in its appli- cation, a cool, wary opponent in the court room, yet eminently fair in his methods, courteous to the court, but a powerful advocate for the cause he represents. The rank he holds at the bar has been fairly won and he holds the true regard of the members of the bench whose dignity and authority he respects and of the bar whose rights and privileges he never in- fringes, even in the heat of controversy and strife for legal advantage. The rules of the profession are strictly observed by Mr. Poole under all circumstances and no taint of unprofessional conduct mars his brilliant record. He is a "native son" of Rochester, his father and mother also be- ing born there, but his grandfather, how- ever, Joseph H. Poole, came from Eng- land about the year 1845, settling in the town of Gates, Monroe county, New York, there operating a grist mill for several years. He died in 1891.
His son, Charles A. Poole, born in Rochester, died in Detroit, Michigan, September 30, 1907. Charles A. Poole married Amorette Otis, daughter of Wil- liam and Mary A. C. (Late) Otis, the former a native son of the State of Maine, the latter a native of the State of Mary- land. William Otis came to Rochester from Frederick City, Maryland, where their daughter and their illustrious son, General Elwell Stephen Otis, were born, the latter a veteran of two wars and an officer of the United States regular army, brevetted major-general for "military skill and most distinguished service in the Philippine Islands."
Harry Otis Poole, son of Charles A. and Amorette (Otis) Poole, was born in Rochester, New York, October 3, 1871, and since February, 1896, has been a member of the Monroe county bar, prac- ticing in Rochester He obtained his early and preparatory educational train- ing in private New York City schools,
later entering Princeton University, whence he was graduated A. B., class of "93." The three years succeeding his graduation were spent in legal study in Rochester, and in February, 1896, he was admitted to the bar. He began practice in Rochester at once forming a partner- ship with Selden S. Brown, later and now (1916) surrogate of Monroe county. This partnership, conducted under the firm name of Brown & Poole, continued for ten years, terminating January, 1906. From that date Mr. Poole has practiced alone, his offices 339 Powers Building. He is a member of the professional law associations of the City, County and State and of the Rochester Chamber of Com- merce, contributing to all that concerns the work of those organizations as his own time will allow. His club is the Genesee Valley. In political faith a Re- publican, he is interested in party suc- cess, but has studiously refrained from taking such active part in public affairs as to interfere with his usefulness to his clients. He does not, however, lack in public spirit, being fully alive to his duties and responsibilities as a citizen. He is a member of Frank A. Lawrence Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, has attained the thirty-second degree, An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite, and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine belonging to Damascus Temple.
Mr. Poole married, September 22, 1903, Nanette R., daughter of Francis Delano, of Niagara Falls, New York. They are the parents of Elizabeth Delano Poole, born June 22, 1905, and Arthur Otis Poole, born June 28, 1912. The family home is No. 60 Westminster road.
FISHER, Edwin Augustus, Consulting Engineer.
For nearly half a century Mr. Fisher has been engaged in engineering profes- sionally, and since 1882 he has been a
314
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
resident of the city of Rochester, New York, having previously been a resident of his native State, Massachusetts. His work has been of varied character, but railroad and municipal water works, plan- ning building and operating, have been his special lines. As consulting engineer for the city of Rochester, and corporations of note, he is now realizing the benefit of his many years of arduous labor and in the quieter field of consultation the even- ing of life is being most profitably spent. There are few men whose experience as engineers covers a longer period than his own, and none have won more honorable standing in the profession. He has made it his life work and the time of entrance to the profession as a student has allowed no other interest to intervene. He is widely known to the profession all over the United States, and as director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and president of the American Society of Municipal Improvements has come in personal contact with many of the leading men and specialists in those lines. His is a genial, warm-hearted, sympathetic nature, and the number of his friends is legion.
Edwin Augustus Fisher was born at Royalston, Worcester county, Massachu- setts, July 17, 1847. He was educated in the public schools and completed a full course in the English branches with grad- uation from the State Normal School at Westfield, Massachusetts. He then began the study of civil engineering, and in school and field work thoroughly pre- pared for the practice of engineering as a profession. From 1870 until 1882 his time was fully employed as an engineer in charge of railroad waterworks and bridge planning and construction in New Eng- land. In 1882 he located in Rochester, New York, as first assistant engineer on the construction of the Genesee Valley
Consolidated Railroad, and from that year Rochester has been his home and the seat of his activity, although his engagements at times took him to other localities for extended periods.
After the completion of his first New York undertaking, he was retained by the Western, New York & Pennsylvania Rail- road as division engineer, continuing in the capacity until 1889, when he was appointed superintendent of the Pitts- burgh division of the road. This called for his almost constant presence in Oil City, Pennsylvania, and when in 1893 there was an opportunity to return to Rochester he embraced it.
From 1893 until 1896 he was chief assistant engineer of the city in charge of the construction of the works giving Rochester an additional water supply, and in 1896 was appointed city engineer. From January 1, 1900, he was in full charge of all city engineering, including the water works, and also was ex-officio, a member of the City Board of Estimate and Apportionment, the Board of Con- tract and Supply, the Examining Board of Plumbers, and secretary of the Market Commission. He continued as city engi- neer with these added responsibilities un- til 1914 when he was appointed consult- ing engineer to the city. He then also opened private offices at 300 Power's Building, and as private consulting engi- neer meets the demands for his profes- sional services. His work in connection with Rochester's engineering problems has been very valuable and has been highly commended by those who pos- sessed full knowledge of the importance of the work he performed.
He is a member of and a past director of the American Society of Civil Engi- neers, member of the American Water- works Association, the New England Waterworks Association, the Rochester
315
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Engineering Society and the American Society of Municipal Improvements of which he is an ex-president. He is a mem- ber of the Masonic order, belonging to Frank R. Lawrence Lodge, Cyrene Com- mandery, Knights Templar, and Damas- cus Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Fisher married, February 17, 1875, Ellen F. Breckenridge, of Ware, Massa- chusetts, who died in 1913. They are the parents of Lewis J. ; Julia K., wife of Rev. Arthur Clements, deceased ; Florence M., wife of Robert A. Copeland; Edwin H .; William B .; and Fanny B., residing with her parents at the family home, No. 30 Albemarle street, Rochester.
HYDE, Edwin Francis,
Banker, Lawyer, Musical Critic.
Edwin Francis Hyde, a banker of New York City, well known in the legal pro- fession in this city, also in musical circles, and perhaps the best known American in the musical circles of Europe, in which art he has ever taken a profound inter- est, winning a high place in the esteem of musicians and music lovers, is a de- scendant of an old New England family, which has ever been distinguished for talent and high moral principle, charac- teristics which distinguish the present- day members.
The Hydes were a noted family in Eng- land. Sir Nicholas Hyde was chief jus- tice of the King's Bench, and Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, was lord chan- cellor at the restoration, and was grand- father to two queens in the English suc- cession, Mary, the second, and Anne. The Hyde descendants in America were
strong in great men, among whom were: Hon. Matthew Griswold, chief justice and governor of Connecticut; Hon. John M. Niles, United States senator and post- master-general in Van Buren's adminis- tration ; the Rev. Edward Duran Griffin,
president of Williams College ; the Hon. William Woodbridge, United States Sen- ator and governor of Michigan.
The American ancestor, William Hyde, came from England about 1633, and after a short sojourn at Newton, Massachu- setts, went with Rev. Thomas Hooker to Connecticut, in 1636, and settled at Say- brook, whence he removed, in 1660, to Norwich, where he was one of the origi- nal proprietors, frequently held office, and died January 6, 1681. His son, Sam- uel Hyde, born about 1637, settled as a farmer in Norwich West Farms, where he was a prominent citizen. He married, in June, 1659, Jane Lee, of East Say- brook, daughter of Thomas Lee. Sam- uel Hyde died in 1677. Their second son, Jolın Hyde, born December, 1667, was a farmer in Norwich on land which was still held by his descendants as late as 1859, and died June 26, 1727. He mar- ried, March 3, 1698, Experience, born De- cember, 1674, in Norwich, daughter of Caleb and Margaret (Post) Abel. Their third son, Captain James Hyde, born February 28, 1707, died April 24, 1793, was a shipmaster. He married, Decem- ber 26, 1743, Sarah Marshall, born April 12, 1720, in Norwich, daughter of Abiel and Abiah (Hough) Marshall, died No- vember 3, 1773. Their second son, Cap- tain James Hyde, was born July 17, 1752, in Norwich, where he made his home, and died April 9, 1809. He was an officer in the Revolutionary army, a local Metho- dist preacher, and a most useful citizen. He married, April 5, 1774, Martha Nevins, born 1756, died 1823. Their eldest child, Erastus Hyde, born February 7, 1775, died October 13, 1849, in Brooklyn, New York. He removed, about 1800, to Mid- dlebury, Vermont, later removed to Mystic, Groton, Bozrah, Connecticut, and finally to New York City. He married, February 26, 1797, Fanny Bell, born 1775, died March 10, 1842, in New York, daugh-
316
@ Francis Hyde
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ter of Captain Joseph and Mary Bell, of Stonington, Connecticut. Their fifth son, Edwin Hyde, born February 19, 1812, in Groton, Connecticut, died in New York City, in 1896. He resided in New York City, where he was a tea merchant. He married, February 24, 1833, Elizabeth Alvina Mead, born in Belleville, New Jer- sey, daughter of Ralph Mead, later of New York, and his wife, Sarah (Holmes) Mead. The Mead family descends from William Mead, a pioneer of Wethersfield, later Stamford, Connecticut.
E. Francis Hyde, son of Edwin and Elizabeth Alvina (Mead) Hyde, was born in New York City, June 23, 1842. He re- ceived his early education in the schools of that city and Middletown, Connecticut. He graduated from the New York Free Academy (now the College of the City of New York) in 1861, and two years later received from Columbia Law School the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 1862, during the progress of the Civil War, he enlisted his services in defence of the gov- ernment, and served in the United States army in the State of Virginia. In the following year, 1863, he engaged in the practice of law and continued until 1886, a period of almost a quarter of a century, his practice being largely in connection with wills and estates, and his varied and extensive knowledge in that line proved a valuable asset to him in his capacity of vice-president of the Central Trust Com- pany of New York, to which office he was elected in 1886, this company having always taken a leading position as a trus- tee of railroad and other corporations and also of personal trusts. In political affairs Mr. Hyde has been accustomed to act with the Republicans. He is an elder of the Presbyterian church ; a trustee of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions; a member of the New York Sabbath Committee; a manager of the American Bible Society, and trustee and treasurer
of Princeton Theological Seminary since 1898. His interest in the finer arts and in the general welfare work of the com- munity is well known, and he is esteemed and regarded as one of the promoters of human progress. He is a patron of or- chestral music, and holds membership in the various organizations devoted to the promotion of musical study and composi- tion. From 1888 to 1901 he was presi- dent of the Philharmonic Society of New York, and he is a fellow of the Philhar- monic Society of London, England. In 1903 he organized a plan by which the famous conductors, Wassily Safonoff, Felix Weingartner, Max Fiedler, Edward Colonne, Willem Margelberg, Sir Henry J. Wood, Fritz Steinbach and others were induced to come to the United States for the first time as conductors and direct at the concerts of the Philharmonic Society of New York, thus insuring to the pa- trons of that society a rare musical treat. Mr. Hyde is also a member of the Asso- ciation of the Bar of the City of New York, the New England Society in New York, the Society of Colonial Wars, Sons of the Revolution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he holds membership in nu- merous clubs, including the Century, Union League, Metropolitan, University, Riding, City and Downtown.
Mr. Hyde married, November 18, 1868, Marie E. Brown, daughter of Albert N. Brown, a well known merchant of New York City.
BALDWIN, Evelyn, M. D., Practitioner.
In no age has the world been so largely indebted to woman as at the present. Thoroughly aroused to the needs which have been brought about through modern conditions and recognizing the value of organized effort, women of to-day are doing a splendid and effective work in
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.