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 47
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Benjamim Patterson
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
held the position of secretary of the New thirty-five years. Mr. Patterson has been retained in many intricate and important cases wherein he was confronted by the leaders of the bar both in the Federal and the State courts. He is as well known to members of the legal profession throughout the country as he is to the many leading cases, State and Federal, such as Colon vs. Lisk; People vs. Sher- lock; Peterson vs. Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western Railroad, and many others familiar to the profession. Mr. Patterson is a member of the Society of International Law; American, State and County Bar associations, and the New York Press Club. He has written largely on questions of legal interest that lie out- side the pale of conventionality. England Association of Colleges and Pre- paratory Schools. Of late years she has been active as a member of the commit- tee on educational legislation of the Western New York Branch of the Asso- ciation of Collegiate Alumnae, especially on behalf of a betterment of the condition . New York bar. He has been counsel in of the New York State Normal Schools. In her congenial companionship he is liv- ing in the presidential mansion on the Cornell campus, which he has given to the University, reserving a life tenancy for himself, among his books and lettered associations, varied by travel at home and abroad, still engaged in literary work and has received and accepted from Pres- ident Wilson an appointment as the American Commissioner, in the Treaty of Peace with China.
Dr. White has two surviving children and three grandchildren; Mrs. Ervin S. Ferry (Ruth Mary White), wife of the head of the department of Physics of Purdue University, Indiana, has one sur- viving daughter, Grace Helen Ferry. Two sons, Andrew White Newberry and Ar- thur Cleaveland Newberry, survivors of Dr. White's oldest daughter (Clara White Newberry), are graduates of Cornell Uni- versity and the former also of the Colum- bia School of Mines. Mr. White's young- est daughter, Karin, born in Helsingfors, Finland, 1893, during his mission to Rus- sia, was graduated at Vassar College (A. B. 1915).
PATTERSON, Benjamin, Attorney-at-Law.
Among the notable lawyers of New York is Benjamin Patterson, born in Al- bany, December 23, 1859, the son of Al- fred and Barbara (Sheeline) Patterson. He was admitted to the bar in 1880, re- moved to New York City, where he has practiced with increasing success for
FOWLER, Purdy A., V Manufacturer.
On December 1, 1885, a new firm was born in the city of Rochester, New York, the Langslow-Fowler Company, that now, thirty-one years later, is one of the solid, substantial manufacturing houses of the city. To that house came Purdy A. Fowler as junior partner, a young man of thirty-four, a practical mechanic and experienced furniture salesman, having covered the United States from the At- lantic to the Pacific as representative of a Boston furniture manufactory. With such equipment he was a valuable addi- tion and in all the great developments of the company he has been a potent factor. As furniture manufacturers the Langs- low-Fowler Company rank high with the trade for perfection of goods made in their plant and for their upright man- agement of the office departments.
Mr. Fowler comes from distinguished Westchester county, New York, families, the Fowlers and Drakes figuring largely in Colonial and Revolutionary history.
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The maternal ancestor, John Drake, came from England to Windsor, Connec- ticut, in 1630. A descendant, Elizabeth Drake, married John Fowler and left issue, including a son, Hiram Fowler. Elizabeth (Drake) Fowler was a daugh- ter of Dr. Nathaniel and Jane Ann (Drake) Drake, the latter a daughter of Jeremiah Drake, a Revolutionary soldier, and his wife, Frances (Purdy) Drake. Dr. Nathaniel Drake was a son of Lieu- tenant Gilbert Drake, a Revolutionary officer, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1777 and a judge in 1778. He married Ruth Tompkins and among their children was Dr. Nathaniel Drake, father of Elizabeth Drake, wife of John Fowler, the latter the parents of Hiram Fowler and grandparents of Purdy A. Fowler, of Rochester, now vice-president of the Langslow-Fowler Company, mann- facturers of furniture. Hiram Fowler was a farmer of Westchester county, New York, his estate situated at Yorktown. He married Mary Goetschius, born in Rockland county, New York.
Their son, Purdy A. Fowler, was born at the home farm at Yorktown, West- chester county, New York, December 27, 1851, but at the age of four years his parents moved to Peekskill, New York. He attended Peekskill public schools until 1866, then for two years was clerk in the village store. That life did not appeal to him, and from the age of seven- teen to twenty-two he worked at the car- penter's trade as apprentice and journey- man. His ambition was not yet satisfied and in 1873 he made a radical change, going to Boston and then. after becoming familiar with furniture manufacture, lay- ing aside his tools and becoming a travel- ing salesman. During the next decade he sold furniture all over the United States, becoming thoroughly familiar with the business and well acquainted with the re- tail dealers of the many cities he visited
in his semi-annual trips from Boston to San Francisco. In 1885 he united with H. A. and S. C. Langslow in forming the Langslow-Fowler Company and on De- cember I of that year they began busi- ness in Rochester as furniture manufac- turers. The Langslows, father and son, were experienced in both the manufac- ture and sale of furniture, both having been members of the I. H. Dewey Furni- ture Company, Henry A. Langslow, the father, as vice-president, the son, Strat- ton C. Langslow, as traveling salesman. Neither of the partners had anything to learn about the furniture business as then conducted and as the years have pro- gressed they have kept in closest touch with modern styles and methods, but as leaders not followers. In course of time the honored head, Henry A. Langslow, was gathered to his fathers, the younger partners reorganizing as a corporation with Stratton C. Langslow as president, Purdy A. Fowler as vice-president. The Langslow-Fowler Company conduct a very large business, the product of their Rochester plant going to all parts of the country.
Mr. Fowler is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Genesee Falls Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Hamilton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Mon- roe Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also affiliated with that social adjunct of Masonry, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and with the Veiled Prophets. He is fond of the social pleasures of life and is associated with his fellows in the Roches- ter Algonquin and Commercial clubs, having served the last named as presi- dent. In political faith he is a Repub- lican, interested in public affairs, but never has sought or desired public office. He ranks high as a business man and holds the esteem of all who know him as either a business man or citizen.
Mr. Fowler married, March 7, 1875, at
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Cold Spring, Putnam county, New York, Sarah Schults. They are the parents of two daughters, Mayme, now Mrs. Arthur J. Fisher, of Rochester, and Carrie Fowler ; a son, Purdy H. Fowler, married Grace Goodrich and resides in Rochester ; Edna, died aged seven years; Lily, died aged three years. The family home is at No. 843 Harvard street.
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WESTERVELT, Zenas Freeman, Founder and Head of the Western New York School for Deaf Mutes.
Although born in the State of Ohio, Mr. Westervelt is of ancient New York family, the Westervelts early settling in the valley of the Hudson. His father, William B. Westervelt, was also born in Ohio, but his grandfather, William Wes- tervelt, was of Poughkeepsie, New York, as was his wife, Sarah (Bishop) Wester- velt. They later moved to Westerville, Ohio, where their son, William Bishop Westervelt, was born June 10, 1821, and died February 3, 1850. He married, March 14, 1844, Martha Freeman, born in Rushford, Allegany county, New York, October 4, 1819, died at Rochester, New York, February 27, 1896, daughter of Eli- jah Woodruff Freeman, of New Jersey family. Elijah W. Freeman was born in Newark, New Jersey, November 9, 1791, but spent his life from the age of six years until he was forty in New York, devoting his time to preaching the Gospel as an ordained minister from his thirtieth year. The latter years of his life were spent as a minister in Granville, Ohio, where with his brother-in-law, Jonathan Going, he was prominent in establishing the Baptist College located there. There he is buried. He married at Canan- daigua, New York, November 7, 1816, Sarah Going.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Martha (Freeman) Westervelt supported
herself and her only living son, Zenas F. Westervelt, by teaching in the Columbus schools. Later she was appointed matron of the Ohio State School for the Deaf, located at Columbus, and there continued for seventeen years. She was a woman of high courage, ability and wisdom, guiding her son's early life with loving patience, tenderness and firmness. She was the guiding force of his life for twenty years ere she joined her husband and two infant sons in the spirit land, but her influence has never died, and the life of the son is to-day being devoted to the same class of God's unfortunates to which she devoted seventeen years of her life, the care of an institution for the deaf and the dumb.
Zenas Freeman Westervelt was born in Columbus, Ohio, March 15, 1849, son of William Bishop and Martha (Free- man) Westervelt. His father died eleven months later, and until 1868 mother and son lived together at the State School of the Deaf in Columbus. Zenas F. Wester- velt began his education in the primary department of the public schools, and continued until all grades had been passed and a diploma received with the graduat- ing high school, class of 1868. His first business experience was as clerk for one of the contractors engaged in construct- ing the Hocking Valley railroad, a posi- tion he held until the completion of the road. After a term as agent for the White Line Fast Freight, and as clerk in the office of the American Express Company, at Columbus, he taught school for a year at Galena, Ohio. then spent a year as clerk in a Topeka, Kansas, bank, there remaining until August 29, 1871.
All this had been preparation for the real business of life, and in no way rep- resented his true aim and ambition. For seventeen years of his early life he had been familiar with the methods of in- structing the deaf in fact and lived in the
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institution in Columbus, of which Mrs. Westervelt was matron, and had, as he grew older, made a close study of the methods employed. The education of the deaf was destined to be his life work, and in the fall of 1871 he made his first en- trance into the profession he adorns. His first position was as a teacher in the Maryland State School for Deaf Mutes at Frederick, an institution then under the management of Charles W. Ely, prin- cipal. After two years as teacher under Principal Ely he taught for three years in the Fanwood Institute for the Deaf, Washington Heights, New York City, there remaining until 1876, when he came to Rochester as superintendent of the Western New York Institute for Deaf Mutes, a newly formed institution, made possible by the action of Rochester citi- zens, cooperating with Mr. Westervelt and his wife, who had formerly taught the daughter of one of Rochester's promi- nent families.
The institution is incorporated and was organized at a public meeting called by the mayor of Rochester, February 3, 1876, and while it is under the control of the State board of education and the su- pervision of the State board of charities, the school is a private one and owes its life and importance to its first and only superintendent and founder, Zenas F. Westervelt, and his wife. The school was started after its need had been dem- onstrated by means of a list of the deaf mutes in Western New York not in any school prepared by Mr. Westervelt, and its support was guaranteed by wealthy Rochester philanthropists. It was a suc- cess from the beginning, and in its sec- ond year moved to a larger building, the former Children's Home. Twenty-three pupils answered roll call on the first day the school was opened, the youngest five, the eldest twenty-three years of age. On
the last day of the first school year eighty-seven answered. During the forty years the institution has been in existence each year has shown progress, not only in the number of students in at- tendance but in efficiency and in results attained. The school is now housed in its own commodious buildings, each thor- oughly equipped for its special needs, the number of students enrolled being all that can be accommodated. The system of in- struction employed is the manual oral method, Mr. Westervelt's contention be- ing that no such thing as a deaf mute mind exists from natural causes, and that there is no real need for a deaf mute lan- guage. There is no language of gesture used in the school, instruction being through speech and manual spelling. The school is a splendid example of the value of this modern method of teaching deaf mutes, and demonstrates the wisdom and the practicability of Mr. Westervelt's theories. Students are given the benefit of carefully prepared courses, finishing with graduation and a diploma. Since 1878 manual training has been an impor- tant feature, and in 1886 a cooking class was added.
Mr. Westervelt married, October 14, 1875, Mary Nodine, born in New York City in 1847, died in Rochester, January 6, 1893, daughter of Robert Crawford and Clarissa (Hart) Nodine, of New York City, who were married in 1839. Robert Crawford Nodine, a prosperous commis- sion merchant of New York City, was the father of two sons, the eldest, Crawford Nodine, a Union soldier, giving his life to his country at the battle of Cedar Moun- tain. Mrs. Westervelt's father died the year of her birth, her mother later mov- ing to Kingston, New York, where she conducted a young ladies' seminary. In 1860 the family moved to Charleston, West Virginia, but was obliged to return
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to the North, one of the sons, however, entering the Union army. Mrs. Nodine in 1861 became matron of Packer's Institute in Brooklyn, New York, her daughter, Mary Hart Nodine, graduating from the institute, class of 1865. Later she taught music in Middletown, Ohio, later accom- plishing a four years' course at Western Reserve College, although on account of her sex she could not regularly matricu- late. In 1872 she became a teacher in the School for the Deaf at Frederick, Mary- land, and there met her future husband. She became deeply interested in the in- struction of the deaf, and developed rare skill in awakening the intelligent coopera- tion of her pupils. The new ideas then taking form seemed to her full of promise, and she became very successful in teach- ing the deaf lip reading. In 1874 she left the school to become private teacher to Miss Perkins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gilman H. Perkins, of Rochester, and to her success with their daughter the inter- est of Mr. and Mrs. Perkins in the estab- lishment of the Western New York Insti- tution for the Deaf was due. In 1875 she was married, and in 1876 the institution was opened for students. From that time until her death in 1893 she fully shared with her husband the cares of the large and growing school, meeting the exacting demands of her position as instructor and her social and domestic duties with a rare charm and skill that endeared her to offi- cers, teachers and pupils. "Hers was a most symmetrical character in which strength and sweetness were blended. Her intellectual gifts were united with deep religious experience and skill in practical affairs. Self-forgetful and of heroic cour- age, her heart was open to the sorrow and suffering of others, and her sympathy was tender and true."
Mr. Westervelt married, June 1, 1898, Adelia Clara Fay, born in Columbus,
Ohio, daughter of Gilbert Otis and Adelia (Allen) Fay, who in 1880 moved to Hart- ford, Connecticut. Mrs. Westervelt is deeply interested in her husband's work, her culture, refinement and interest are a great aid in maintaining the school upon the high plane it has attained.
This brief record of the life of one of the great benefactors of his race but little more than outlines the wonderful work Mr. Westervelt has done and is doing. His broad humanitarian principles are mani- fest in his work, but type nor words can express the depth of his spirit of helpful- ness, benevolence and sympathy. That he is continually studying newer and bet- ter methods and forming new plans to bring to the deaf mute more of the joy of life and greater opportunity for higher intellectual development need not be said. His life for the past forty-five years has been with that single aim in view, and he would not be in harmony with the spirit of these years did he not continue to strive to be more helpful and more useful. He would not falter if he could, and he could not if he would. The New York Institu- tion for the Deaf is the embodiment of the spirit of the two noble women-mother and wife-now in the land that knows no sorrow, who fostered, encouraged and aided the founder in his glorious work for many years, and who now in the evening of life is as loyally and effectively aided by her who for nearly twenty years has taken their place. The worth of such lives cannot be estimated, only the rec- ords kept by Divine hands will ever reveal their true value to humanity's cause.
DICKINSON, Pomeroy P., Lawyer.
Over a century ago Pomeroy M. Dick- inson left his home in Amherst, Massa- chusetts, and drove westward, finally
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settling on a tract of wild land in what is now known as the town of Irondequoit, Monroe county, New York. There his grandson, Pomeroy P. Dickinson, of Rochester, was born and there members of the Dickinson family yet own the land settled upon by the founder of the family in 1805. Pomeroy P. Dickinson, son of Pomeroy M. Dickinson, fell a victim to the malarial conditions which then ex- isted in the district and was succeeded by his son, Alfred L. Dickinson, and his brothers, Levi A. and Charles, the former named having been a farmer of Irondequoit until his death in 1894. He was one of the substantial men of his neighborhood, pursuing the even tenor of his way throughout a useful life, aiding in all the movements of church and town which marked his period of life. Of strong Christian character, he was highly esteemed by his community and left to his children the record of a life well spent. He married Martha Anderson, who died in 1904, aged eighty-three years. daughter of Hixon Anderson, a soldier of the Revolution.
Pomeroy P. Dickinson, son of Alfred L. and Martha (Anderson) Dickinson, was born at the homestead farm, town of Irondequoit, Monroe county, New York, September 20, 1852, and is now and since 1875, has been a resident of the city of Rochester. His early life was spent at the home farm, his preliminary educational training being obtained in the district public school. He was later a student at De Graff Military School, and made thor- ough preparation for admission to Yale. His plans were altered and he entered Co- lumbia College, completing a course in the law department, whence he was gradu- ated, class of 1875. After obtaining his degree from Columbia, Mr. Dickinson located in Rochester, was admitted to the Monroe county bar, and at once began his professional career. Forty-one years have
since elapsed, years which have brought him honorable success as a lawyer and prominence as a citizen. For several of his earlier years at the bar he was in partnership with George A. Benton, later a justice of the New York Supreme Court, but since the dissolution of that association he has practiced alone. He was in course of time admitted to prac- tice in all State and Federal courts of the district and in all is of record in connec- tion with most important causes He is regarded as one of the strong men of the Rochester bar, and holds the unqualified respect of the judges before whom he ap- pears and of the members of the bar to which he belongs. He is the trusted ad- viser and legal representative of a great number of individuals and business con- cerns, and has fairly won the confidence they repose in his ability to conserve their interests. He is a member of the Roches- ter and other bar associations, and to their proceedings contributes by voice and pen.
In politics he is a Republican, and he has well served his city in various ways. During the ten years prior to the passage of the Raines Law regulating the sale of liquor in the State of New York, Mr. Dickinson was a member of the board of excise commissioners of the city of Rochester, and as president of that board exercised a healthy influence over that department of the city government. He brought to his position both zeal and knowledge of the subjects upon which he was to legislate, and while himself con- forming to the laws governing the excise department also enforced the observance of those laws upon the applicants for and holders of licenses.
To classical education and professional learning, he has added the broadening culture of travel and association with prominent men both at home and abroad. He has toured Europe exten-
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sively and has contributed many articles to the press, descriptive of his travels and impressions of foreign lands. A grace- ful, entertaining writer, he is no less flu- ent a speaker and charms with eloquent speech. He is a strong advocate for the cause in which he enlists, but the duties of a learned profession have not quenched the social instinct and he is one of the prominent, popular members of fraternal and social bodies. He is strongly at- tached to the Masonic order, belonging to the various Rochester bodies of that order, and among his brethren his intel- lectual gifts and finely balanced mind are as highly appreciated as by his brethren of the bench and bar. He was the or- ganizer of the Lincoln Club of Rochester, a club which attained a large member- ship and wrought great good.
Mr. Dickinson married, in 1882, Emma Marsh, who bore him two daughters: Pomona and Esther, deceased.
KNAPP, Homer, 1 Contractor and Builder.
For over a quarter of a century Homer Knapp has been a resident, a valued citi- zen, a leading contractor and builder and business man of Rochester, New York. He came to the city well equipped to enter the building field, possessing expert mechanical ability, experience as a con- tractor, and a mind well stored with technical information. He began in a quiet way but his good work and fair dealing soon brought him into promi- nence. With reputation established, op- portunities for bigger things were offered and to-day many are the important build- ings of a public nature and costly private residences that stand as monuments to his constructive genius. His life has been a strict interpretation of the Golden Rule. and no man has more fully won the esteem and confidence of his fellow men than has Homer Knapp.
He is a native son of New York State, although his parents were born in widely separated states, his father, George W. Knapp, in Delaware, his mother, Caroline (Haskell) Knapp, in New Hampshire, daughter of one of the oldest New Eng- land families. They married and settled in Steuben county, New York, where Homer Knapp was born, March 29, 1858. He attended public schools until complet- ing their full course, then entered the Free Academy at Corning, New York, whence he was graduated in 1876 He served an apprenticeship at the carpen- ter's trade and then added to his builder's knowledge mastery of the mason's trade, serving a full apprenticeship in both call- ings. During these years spent in acquir- ing practical knowledge and experience, he added to his mental equippment by courses of study pursued at schools and in private. With muscle and brain thus developed, he sought to put them to the best use and after a term as journeyman began business for himself as contractor and builder. He located at Corning, New York, and met with the success his abili- ity demanded. In 1888 he sought a wider field of action and located in Rochester, which city has since been the scene of his highly successful operations. Among the public buildings he has contracted for and erected in Rochester the more impor- tant are the Masonic Temple, the Seneca Hotel, the Strong Building. the Brick Presbyterian Church, the Brick Church Institute, German United Trinity Church, East Side Presbyterian Church, Public Schools Nos. 18, 28, and 36, Irondequoit School, Oak Hill Country Club House, and the American Fruit Product Com- pany's plant. In the residence section he has erected many of the handsome houses that are the pride of Rochester, including the Curtis, Cory, Eastwood, Bissell, Ad- kin, and Collins mansions, and many others equally noteworthy. He was one
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