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 pre?minent in their own and many other states. V.6 > Part 44
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He never makes a secret of the operations of his factory, but freely invites all, and has inscribed over the entrance "Visitors Always Welcome." He has believed in in- creasing his store of knowledge by study- ing the works and results accomplished by others, and his chief desire in life is not the accumulation of wealth, but to let others benefit by the results he has achieved.
Professor Sweet was one of the found- ers of the American Society of Mechani- cal Engineers, the Engine Builders' As- sociation of the United States, the Tech- nology Club, and the Metal Trades and Founders' Association of Syracuse. The American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers has a membership of more than three thousand of the leading mechanical engineers of the country. Mr. Sweet was its third president and is now one of the sixteen honorary members, only seven being from this country, and among these are Carnegie, Edison and Westing- house. He was the first president of the Engine Builders' Association and the Technology Club ; is a life member of the Onondaga Historical Association; was one of the judges of the Chicago World's Fair, and has been employed by the gov- ernment as an expert. In 1913 Syracuse University conferred upon Professor Sweet the degree of Doctor of Engineer- ing, an honor held by only eight people in the United States. In December, 1914, he was given the John Fritz Medal for scientific and engineering achieve- ments. Eight of these medals have been awarded, and among the recipients were John Fritz, Lord Kelvin, Edison, West- inghouse and Bell.
Professor Sweet married (first) in No- vember, 1870, Caroline V. Hawthorne, who died May 12, 1887. He married (second) in 1889, Irene A. Clark, who died August 24, 1914.
BENTLEY, Sardius Delancey, . Attorney-at-Law.
Although brought up on a Chautauqua county farm amid most pleasant sur- roundings, Mr. Bentley's ambition from youth was for the profession of law, an ambition he achieved at the age of twenty-nine years, when in 1872 he began the study of law in Rochester. Admitted in 1875, he at once began practice at Rochester and from that time his career has been one of signal success. His career at the bar has been one of honor, while his social, frank, genial nature has won him a large circle of friends other than those attracted by his legal attain- ment. He has devoted himself closely to his profession and has won a place in the foremost ranks. This has been done by careful, conscientious work in the pre- paration of cases, a logical, strong and dignified presentation and his constant endeavor to leave no loophole in his de- fense. A client who entrusts his case to Mr. Bentley is assured that no effort will be withheld to bring his case to success- ful issue, and although the most intricate cases have been committed to him, he has met all demands and been success- ful in a large majority of his cases. He is a son of Alexander and Lavantia Mary (Norton) Bentley, his father a farmer of the towns of Busti and Ellicott, New York. The father died in 1895.
Sardius D. Bentley was born at the homestead in Busti, there passed his youth and his early manhood save the years spent in institute and university. From the district public school he passed in succession to Jamestown Academy, Randolph Academy, now Chamberlain Institute, and the University of Roches- ter. He completed classical study at the university and received his Bachelor's degree, class of 1870. He then taught
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school for two years, finally reaching the road leading to the goal of his ambition in 1872.
In that year he began the study of law in Rochester, and at the October term of court in 1875, after passing the required examinations, he was admitted to the Monroe county bar. Forty-one years have since intervened and to-day he is the seasoned veteran who has won his laurels in many a legal conflict. Not always has he been returned the victor, but whether successful or not every bat- tle has been fought with all the force of his learning, skill and courage, and he numbers his warmest friends among those with whom he has most strongly contended in legal encounters. During his earlier years of practice he was asso- ciated with William F. Cogswell as part- ner, later and until 1893 as a member of the firm of Cogswell, Bentley & Cogswell. Since 1893 he has practiced alone, his office at No. 60 Trust Building. His practice extends to all State and Federal courts of the district, and since Decem- ber, 1885, he has been authorized to prac- tice in the United States Supreme Court. He does not confine himself to any spe- cial line, but with a broad and compre- hensive knowledge of the law conducts a general practice. He is a member of the Rochester Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association, highly re- garded by his brethren of these bodies. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the college fraternities, Psi Up- silon and Phi Beta Kappa.
HARGATHER, Rev. Mathias J., Clergyman.
In 1878 Father Hargather was ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church, his course of training for holy orders having been long and all embrac-
ing. He was then a young man of twenty-three years. In 1903, on the cele- bration of his Silver Jubilee, as a gift from the congregation of St. Michael's Church, Rochester, of which he had then been pastor seven years, a chime of thir- teen beiis was installed in the tower of St. Michael's, along with a beautiful tower clock and in the church a new pipe organ was placed. Thirteen years have since elapsed and the bells toll out their message of invitation, the clock marks the hours as they pass, and the organ in solemn measure accompanies the sacred offices which Father Har- gather yet performs as pastor, after a continuous service of twenty years. They have been years of intellectual growth and religious fervor for the devoted priest and of quickened spiritual life and ma- terial prosperity for the parish.
Father Hargather is the second perma- nent pastor of St. Michael's, and it was his third charge. He had eight years pre- vious experience in charge of the churches at Greece and Coldwater, and there dis- played the sterling, priestly qualities and the business ability which led to his ap- pointment as pastor of St. Michael's to succeed Rev. Fridolin Pascalar, the first permanent pastor, whose ill health caused him to retire. He had also organized and placed upon a sound basis a new parish, St. Francis Xavier, and there ministered eight years. For twenty years he has guided the destinies of St. Michael's, and under his care every department of church and parish work has prospered. Success- ful in carrying through every plan and improvement undertaken, one in particu- lar stands as a worthy monument to his zeal, St. Michael's school, one of the largest and most modernly equipped buildings in the city. He is universally respected regardless of nationality or creed, while his own people are devotedly
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attached to him. He is a native son of Rochester, and it is a matter of special pleasure to him that it is his lot to min- ister among those who have been his friends from youth.
Mathias J. Hargather was born in Rochester, New York, in 1855, and ob- tained his early education in the parochial school of SS. Peter and Paul. He next attended the Academy of the Christian Brothers, and after graduation began his studies in divinity as from boyhood he had been destined for the priesthood. His early theological studies were pursued at St. Francis de Sales College, Milwaukee, and continued as St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary, Troy, New York. After com- pleting his studies he returned to Roches- ter, and as a deacon accompanied Rt. Rev. B. J. McQuaid on his first canonical visitation of his diocese. During this period he taught plain chant Latin and German at St. Andrew's Seminary. He was ordained a priest on St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1878, and performed his first office as assistant priest at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and as chaplain to St. Mary's Hospital and St. Mary's Or- phan Boys' Asylum, also attending a mis- sion at Naples, Ontario county, New York. Early in the year 1880 he was placed over the churches at Greece and Coldwater, Monroe county, New York, and there remained eight years. He there performed a vast amount of labor and was particularly efficient in the upbuilding of good parochial schools, teaching for two years in the little school at Greece.
In 1888 a new German parish was pro- jected in the northeastern part of Rochester, the choice of the Rt. Rev. Bishop for organizer falling to Father Hargather. He was sent out to what was then known as the Wakelee Farm and during the next eight years organized St. Francis Xavier's parish, built a church,
school and hall and performed the service which marks St. Francis Xavier's parish as a monument to his zeal, energy and devotion. In April, 1896, he succeeded Rev. Fridolin Pascalar as pastor of St. Michael's, in Rochester, a parish which he has since continuously served with abund- ant results. One of the interesting events in his history as a priest was the cele- bration of his Silver Jubilee, St. Michael's and his brethren of the clergy uniting in making it an occasion of great pleasure to Father Hargather, and of permanent benefit to the church. The celebration terminated on the evening of September 29, 1903, where in beautiful St. Michael's Church Bishop McQuaid preached an elo- quent sermon, and Father Hargather cele- brated solemn high mass, attended by one hundred priests of the diocese and a large congregation drawn from all parts of the city. Soon the Silver Jubilee of his pas- torate of St. Michael's will be further cause for the rejoicing of his parish and great as will be the splendor and joy of that occasion it will but faintly reflect the love, reverence and admiration the parish has for the good priest who has so faith- fully served them.
TAYLOR, Zachary P., Lawyer, Educator, Publisher.
A man of broad culture Mr. Taylor's capacity has been fully tested in many fields, and in his long and active life has won success because he merited it, not through fortuitous circumstance. By na- ture he is genial and social, never too en- grossed in his own work not to be inter- ested in the affairs and welfare of others. Those who know him prize his friendship and appreciate his sound judgment. He has held to high ideals in his profession, working ever along lines of progress, recognizing the fact that advancement in
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any field depends upon the ability to do things well and as the years have pro- gressed he has won substantial success. As an author and publisher he has en- riched the literature of his profession with many volumes of citations and reports, while as a lawyer he commands the re- spect and esteem of not only his own bar but of the thousands who know him through his law publications. As an edu- cator he held high rank, was principal of the West and Central High Schools of Cleveland, from 1876 to 1883, and as prin- cipal of the Rochester Free Academy he won reputation as one of the leading men of that profession in his native State. Since 1886, when he resigned that prin- cipalship, he has devoted himself wholly to the law as practitioner, author and publisher. Now in the evening of life he is actively "in the harness" and bears his years most wonderfully. Length of years is his heritage, however, both his father and mother being in the eighties and his grandmother in her ninties ere they laid down the burdens and joys of life. They were thrifty, sub- stantial farming people, the family home being at Clarendon, Oneida county, New York, about two and a half miles from Holley.
Zachary P. Taylor was born at Rome, Oneida county, New York, February 28, 1846. At the age of four years he was taken by his parents to their new home, a farm at Clarendon. There he attended the public schools and was his father's assistant until attaining the age of sixteen years. He then renounced farm life and in pursuance of plans for an education en- tered Brockport Collegiate Institute, later known as Brockport State Normal School, then under the principalship of Malcolm J. McVicar. The young man applied him- self diligently to completing two years' work in Latin in one year in addition to
his regular course in Greek and other studies. After leaving the institute he taught four months at Sweden Center, near Brockport, then for three months served as teacher in the high school at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In the fall of 1865 he entered the Uni- versity of Rochester and during two years of his university course taught Latin and Greek in the Rochester Collegiate Insti- tute. He was graduated from the uni- versity with the degree of A. B., class of 1869, and three years later received from his alma mater the degree of A. M. After graduation he spent two and a half years as vice-principal of the Central High School, Buffalo, New York, teaching the classics in addition to his duties as vice- principal. The following one and a half years were spent at Central High School, Cleveland, Ohio, in a similar position, resigning to complete his law studies begun in Buffalo under the direction of Wadsworth White, of the Erie county bar. He took a course at the law school after resigning his position in Cleveland, and after passing the required examina- tion was admitted to the bar in 1872.
Mr. Taylor did not begin practice in his native State but at the Indiana bar, locat- ing at Fort Wayne where he was associ- ated with Judge Joseph Breckenridge, counsel for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Indiana. He remained in Fort Wayne two years, engaged in suc- cessful practice, but his health failing he returned to Cleveland, Ohio, and accepted the offer of his old position in the Cleve- land High School. Until 1883 he was connected with the Cleveland schools, be- coming well-known and highly regarded as one of the ablest educators of the State. While on a visit to Rochester, New York, in July, 1883, he yielded to the importunities of the trustees of the Rochester Free Academy to accept the
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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
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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
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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.
POOLE, 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
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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.
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