Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 156

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094

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As a railroad man he is what is called a flyer. Like William H. Vanderbilt, he is fond of going fast, and when business calls him to a remote point, he will order a loco- motive attached to his special car, and within half an hour after the decision is taken, will be flying over the rails at the rate of a mile a minute. He is absolutely fearless in his travels, as William H. Vanderbilt was. Business men may see him in the afternoon of one day, and hear of him the next morning at Buffalo, 450 miles away. This does not indicate restlessness, but energy. Major Webb is one of the most quiet, self-con- tained and serene-mannered of all railway managers.

When, just after he became vice-president, he was called upon to face a most dangerous strike, railway men said that he had been put to the test too early, and some of them feared that he would not be equal to the responsibility. Depew was in Europe, Cor- nelius Vanderbilt in Newport, and members of the executive board scattered here and there. Maj. Webb immediately made of his office a camping-place. He collected his staff about him. The strikers had control of the approaches to New York city, and traffic was paralyzed. He first took pains to dis- cover how many of the men were out, and also to learn what their precise grievance was. If it were a question of time or wages or any other thing over which there had been misunderstanding or business disagreement, he believed that the trouble could be speed- ily settled. He found, instead, that it was a matter of discipline, that the men protested against certain rules which the subordinate officers had found necessary, as they believed, in order to maintain discipline. The strikers objected to the discharge of certain men who were reported disobedient or incompetent, and when Major Webb heard this, he said, in a quiet way, to his staff: "This is a point this Company cannot yield. The stockhold- ers must retain the right to manage, in their own way, this property."

Then he called upon his resources. He sent agents to procure men to take the places of the strikers. He called upon the police force of New York for protection, and got it. Night and day for seventy-two hours he left his office for only a few moments at a time. He caught catnaps, and two nights did not sleep a wink. And, when the rail- way men connected with other lines found out what he was doing, they said: "There is a young General in command at the Grand Central Station."

In his conferences with leaders of labor associations, Maj. Webb's legal knowledge was of great service to him, and Mr. Pow- derly himself, who met him in conference several times, was greatly impressed by his tact, coolness, good temper and his firmness as well.

When Mr. Depew returned from Europe, not a sign of the strike appeared. Cornelius Vanderbilt, constantly informed over the

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wire at his Newport home of what was going on, deemed it unnecessary to come to the city.

At the first mutterings of the strike in Buffalo, information of which was sent to Maj. Webb by telegraph, he touched his electric bell, the messenger who answered received an order which was taken to the proper authority, and within half an hour Maj. Webb was aboard his private car, speeding over the tracks at the rate of fifty miles an hour, and before dawn next morning he was in Buffalo. His part in that convul- sion is a matter of recent history, and un- necessary to describe here.

In physical appearance, as his photo- gravure picture shows, Maj. Webb does not at all suggest the typical railway manager. He is of slight figure, medium stature, erect in carriage. He cares nothing for social pleasures of the fashionable set. His home and his office are his life. He is not a club man. He takes no conspicuous part in poli- tics, although he has strong political views; but it is safe to say that not a dozen men employed by his company know whether he is a Republican or a Democrat. He is a strong Churchman, being a vestryman and one of the most active members of one of the New York uptown Episcopal churches, and if the millionaires contributed sums propor- tionate to their wealth as great as those he gives for church work, his church would have an enormous income. Maj. Webb is a great believer in the future possibilities of fast railway travel. He has studied this de- velopment with great care, and with such results that he is now running daily the fastest railway train in the world, making nearly a mile a minute consecutively for 450 miles. His experiments have shown that the old idea that very fast travelling does not pay is an error, but he says that in order to make it pay, the cars must be light but strong, the service sufficient but not luxurious, and the carrying capacity limited, so that an engine will not be compelled to draw too heavy a train.

Chauncey M. Depew has the reputation of being the most accessible to newspaper men of all the distinguished men in New York, yet he is not more so than Maj. Webb. Any respectable newspaper man is welcome to his office at all times, and he treats such callers as though they were men, and like one who respects their calling. The reporter has yet to be found who has got of Maj. Webb a suggestion that a puff or a bit of praise would be pleasing. He will not talk about himself, but will cheerfully give all the news which he has, provided it is consistent with the policy of the road to make publication of it. If it is not consistent, he says frankly : "That is something I cannot talk to you about just now. Perhaps I may be able to do so to-morrow:"

Perhaps this disposition is partly due to his recollection of the fact that his father was a newspaper man who always treated

the humblest of reporters with great respect. At the time Gen. Webb was approaching death, and the various newspapers of New York sent reporters to his home, so that im- mediate information of his death might be obtained, Gen. Webb used to say to his sons : "Are you taking good care of the newspaper men? If any of them have to wait long, show them some hospitality. Give them a glass of Madeira and a sandwich or biscuit, and do not forget that the newspaper report- ers as a class are hard-working, fair-minded, intelligent men, who should be treated ex- actly as any other business man is, who comes to you on business matters." Whether this injunction accounts for the treatment Maj. Webb and his brothers give newspaper men or not, the fact remains that they all are thus minded when they receive representa- tives of the press.

The general impression in railway circles is that when President Depew retires from official connection with the New York Cen- tral, Maj. Webb will be his successor.

What we have thus far said relates to Mr. Webb's connection with the main lines of the Central corporation, the extent of which all our readers understand, for that system is one of the largest in the world, and is man- aged with a degree of judgment and practi- cal capacity that has elicited the wonder of travellers who are familiar with the great lines both in Europe and America. But it is in Major Webb's connection with our own northern lines that he has been brought more directly into official relations with our own people. When the New York Central, on March 14th, 1891, leased the lines of the R. W. & O. Railroad, Major Webb was placed in complete control of that entire sys- tem, and became the managing officer, the supreme executive head. Almost from the very week he assumed control, the benefi- cence of his management has made itself manifest. He began the great work of rais- ing the newly-acquired property to the high standard of the trunk line. This necessi- tated new bridges, new rails, and the ac- complishment of almost a process of new construction-entirely so in some localities. The outlay for these improvements has been enormous, reaching $2,000,000, of which over $600,000 has been expended in the construc- tion of new bridges, built of steel and iron. The bridges upon the whole line are now as good as any in the country.

The entire road-bed has been re-ballasted, and in most of it new ties have been placed, and the number of the same per mile has been increased. New steel rails have been laid, weighing 70 and 72 pounds to the lineal yard, and the equipment has been correspond- ingly improved by the addition of standard locomotives of the heaviest pattern, which could not be run over the old R. W. & O., but which now, under the new improve- ments-steel rails, perfect road-bed, and strong bridges-are allowed to run at high speed, and haul heavy trains. New passen-

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

ger cars have been added; in fact, the road has been virtually re-constructed. Freight rates have been reduced, and the general conditions have been greatly improved. Among other things, several enterprises in Northern New York have been assisted : and all this has been done by hard work, and under the plans made and supervised by Mr. Webb.

For such labors, so well done, too much praise cannot be given this young man, who might have chosen ease, but prefers work. All that he touches he benefits. He has raised the old R. W. & O. R. R. system from a decaying condition, with worn material and weak bridges to become a grand system in itself, the natural ally of the great trunk system with which it makes close connec- tions, with vestibuled trains, and in summer with its steady-running "flyers" that cross the country at 40 miles an hour in entire safety. The value of such a system, so con- nected, adds to the value of every acre of land in Northern New York, and is of inter- est to the poorest man as well as to the richest. The remarkable freedom from per- sonal accidents to passengers during the year 1894 affords the best possible guaranty that the system is well and safely managed.

Speed and comfort are two conditions de- manded by modern travellers ; but the perfect combination is a rare one. On most Ameri- can railroads high speed is only possible at the expense of danger and discomfort. To combine comfort and safety with the greatest speed, perfect equipment and absence of sharp curves are necessary. This is cer- tainly the case with the R. W. & O. system. Its great eastern and western outlets, the New York Central and Hudson River Roads hold the world's championship for long-dis- tance fast trains, won by recent improve- ments in equipment and locomotive building that fairly mark an epoch in railroading ; and its hundred-ton engines, borne on mas- sive rails weighing 120 pounds per yard, now skim with perfect safety around curves at the rate of 55 miles an honr. The solidest of road-beds is needed to withstand this marvel . ous speed, and to bear the enormous loco- motives and trains ; what it does with safety is impossible to other railroads of inferior equipment, or built with sharp curves. Excepting the Great Western of Canada, which has one air-line reach of 100 miles, the New York Central straight tracks exceed those of any other railroad in the world.

HON. FREDERICK LANSING,

FORMERLY State Senator and member of Congress, who died at his home in Water- town February 1, 1894, was born in Man- heim, Herkimer county, February 16, 1838. He was the son of Hon. Frederick Lansing, of Herkimer county, who was a brother of Hon. Robert Lansing, so long and favorably known in Watertown. Frederick, Jr., was educated at the Little Falls Academy, from which he graduated when 18 years of age, and came to Watertown to enter the law office of Hon. F. W. Hubbard, being admit- ted to practicein 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted as 1st lieutenant in Captain B. B. Taggart's company (K), 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery. From this branch of the service he was honorably discharged in March, 1863, and in July of that year he was commissioned as first lieutenant in the 20th N. Y. Cavalry, with which he was serving at Bristoe Station, Va., in October, 1864, when he received his wound, and was carried off the field in a blanket, the surgeon of the regi- ment not expecting him to recover. But he gradually convalesced, and became an im- portant factor in the political, professional and social life of Jefferson county.

We can do no better in preparing a sketch of Mr. Lansing's life, than to copy the re- marks made before the Jefferson County Bar by Watson M. Rogers, his law partner. Among other things, he said :

"The death of Frederick Lansing comes close home to me. For more than 15 years my relations with him were of the most inti-

mate and confidential character. Each shared the labor of the other, and its results. Each rejoiced in the other's successes, and de- plored his failures. We never exchanged an unpleasant word. My affection for him could hardly be less, nor my grief for his loss more, if united by a kindred tie. No words at my command can adequately express my estimate of his character and worth.

" As a lawyer, he was perhaps more of the ideal than the practical sort. He loved jus- tice, and the science through which it is sought. He was well grounded in legal principles, and had a great familiarity with cases in the courts of our own State. It was rarely that one of importance could be men- tioned with which he was not familiar, and he always seemed able to add a new light to any legal proposition submitted for his con- sideration. While he made no claim to pre- eminence in the argument of causes before court or jury, he nevertheless stated his rea- sons clearly and forcibly, interspersing them with sallies of wit or sarcasm that always secured the close attention of the hearer. He had little taste for the dry details and drudg- ery of a law office, and a detestation of the methods by which results are sometimes reached He never fomented strife, but dis- couraged litigation. He would have nothing to do with a cause, in the honesty of which he did not thoroughly believe, nor would he argue in favor of a legal proposition, how- ever plausibly it might be done, which was · not in accord with his own notion of the law.

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WATERTOWN.

HON. FREDERICK LANSING.

"I remember well a trial at the circuit, when the evidence disclosed conduct on the part of his client that he could not approve, that he deliberately withdrew, leaving the case in the hands of his associate, and at the mercy of the court and jury. When, how- ever, satisfied that his cause was just, he espoused it with his whole soul, and from thenceforth made it his own. In this he was no respector of persons. The washerwoman's case was cared for with the same fidelity as the banker's.

"He leaves behind him no client whose fortune was wrecked by rashness or want of prudent management ; who has not received all the fruits of the employment ; or smarts under the recollection of an extortionate charge for his services. On the other hand, there are many who have received from him the labor of both lawyer and friend, without money or price. Their benedictions will fol- low him to his long home.

" He was elected State senator two terms, and served one term in Congress. His ser- vices in the Senate began without previous legislative experience, but from the first he took a prominent position, and during his second term was chairman of the Finance Committee, and became a leader in the party. He bore an important part in much of the legislation of those two terms. Among the measures he inaugurated was one of special interest to this locality-the preseveration of the Adirondack forests, which finally re-

sulted in the creation of the forestry com- mission, forestry wardens, &c., as they now exist.

"Mr. Lansing was in no sense a common man. His individuality was so marked that he was unlike any other. He imitated no one, was not a follower, was always respect- ful ; yet I doubt if any man of his acquaint- ance was of sufficient lofty station to com- mand of him any other consideration than could be accorded the humblest. He con- sidered himself the equal of any man, and, though of a prominent family, conscious of his surroundings and what he was, he con- sidered every other man the equal of himself. He was thoroughly democratic. He hated sham, hypocrisy and falsehood in every form ; was absolutely honest, utterly unselfish and charitable to a fault, and he appreciated these qualities in others. His services to his coun- try were heroic, his reward scanty, though in that respect his case is not exceptional.

Mr. Lansing's near relatives are his widow, a daughter of the late George C. Sherman ; his children, Louis G. and Miss Marguerite Lan- sing ; his brother, Dr. E. S. Lansing, of Bur- lington, N. J .; two sisters, Mrs. Robert H. Boyd, of Newburg, N. Y., and Mrs. Milton A. Fuller, of East Bloomfield, N. Y .; his nep- hews, A. T. E. Lansing, Stewart D. Lansing, Charles S. Lansing, George C. Sherman and Frank A. Sherman and C. M. Sherman, of this city ; and his cousins, Mr. John Lansing and Miss C. M. Lansing, of this city.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

THEODORE BUTTERFIELD.

MR. BUTTERFIELD comes into the transportation system of Northern New York by what may be called "natural inheritance." His grandfather, the Hon- orable John Butterfield, of Utica, was the originator of the American Express Company, which was started under the firm of Wells, Butterfield & Com- pany. He also raised the money and built the first Western Union Telegraph Line, which was called the Morse Line Telegraph at that time, and was a director in the New York Central in its early stages, and one of the promoters and capitalists who built the Utica & Black River road, which started in opposition to the Rome & Watertown road, because they could not agree on a starting point, as the capitalists of Northern New York wanted to start from Herkimer; the Utica people would not hear to that, and were bound to start from Utica; so the other people started from Rome, and the Utica people, not to be outdone, started their road from Utica, which was built up to Boonville, and finally extended to Ogdens- burg, Clayton and Sackets Harbor. John Butterfield also started and owned the famous Pony Express or Overland Mail, which was the precursor of the Pacific railroads.

Theodore Butterfield's uncle, Major-General Daniel Butterfield, was the first general superintendent of the American Express Company, and also was chief of staff of the various commanders of the Army of the Potomac, and gave the celebrated order, by direc-

tion of General Meade, to the corps commanders to fight Lee at Gettysburg, the battle that nearly broke the back of the Confederacy.

Mr. Butterfield has been connected with the rail- roads of Northern New York for 20 years. He began as chief clerk in the accounting department of the old Utica & Black River railroad. at Utica, and was soon after made general ticket agent, and then gen- eral passenger agent of that road; and as the road grew, he was made general freight and passenger agent. He remained in that position until the con- solidation with the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg railroad, when he was appointed general passenger agent of the R. W. & O. R. R., and has held that position under the consolidation of that system with the New York Central & Hudson River R. R's. When first appointed he was the youngest general ticket agent in the United States. His experience as assist- ant to the general superintendent, and in the oper- ating department of the Utica & Black River railroad, made him familiar with all departments of railroad- ing, and that is the secret of his success in the passenger business, as he thoroughly understands the details of railroading, and has in addition rare ex- ecutive ability. He is the originator of the long-dis- tance excursions, such as the New York, Washington and Chicago excursions; and the idea of attaching sleeping-cars and drawing-room cars to excursion trains, now generally adopted, originated with him.

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WATERTOWN.

JOHN ADAM D. SNELL.

MR. SNELL having been president of the Jefferson County Agricultural Society (sea- son of 1894), may surely be classed as one of the representative farmers of the county, and his biography may be printed among others whose reputation reaches beyond a single town. By his success in whatever he has undertaken, Mr. Snell has shown himself a man of broad intellect, thorough knowledge of all the details of his business, enterprising in reaching out for new and profitable depart- ments of farming, and ever experimenting to ascertain what is the best method and what

is the most money producing. With these qualifications and attainments it is not re- markable that his life has been extremely prosperous, and that he stands shoulder to shoulder with the most progressive agricul- turists of the day, while the productions of his stock-farm have done much to add to the horse breeder's fame of the fertile valley of Jefferson county. In recognition of these talents Mr. Snell was unanimously elected president of the great Jefferson County Agricultural Society.

He is a man of fine business sagacity,

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

bright, yet honorable in every transaction, enterprising in business, and charitable to all fellow-men, yet most frugal and accurate in all transactions; no man can point the finger of suspicion on any act of his life, and the progressive ideas he has inculcated have won for him the admiration and esteem of every loyal tiller of the soil in Jefferson county. He was born in Little Falls, Herki- mer county, October 1, 1835, his father being David F. Snell, a well-to-do farmer of that locality. At two years of age he moved with his father to Theresa, where the family remained for three years, removing thence to Watertown, two miles south of Watertown Centre, in 1840, remaining there until he reached young manhood, receiving an excel- lent education in the common schools of that town, and in nearby educational institutions. In 1859 he wedded Mary, daughter of Wm. Fuller, and a sister of Hon. Harrison Fuller, of Adams Centre, and after a short residence of five years at Dry Hill, they settled upon the farm at Adams Centre, which has since been their home. They have two children, William D. Snell, an extensive lumber dealer in Worth; and Mrs. Mattie K. Heath, of Adams Centre.

Mr. Snell has been engaged in general

farming up to a few years ago, when he established the magnificent Home farm as a stock-raising farm. The fine breed of horses he has raised there are worthy of all the pride Mr. Snell feels in their records and in their prospects. He has heavy landed inter- ests to occupy his time, and even in the por- trait will be noticed that genial twinkle of the eye that characterizes the companionable jollity always recognizable in his pleasant face. During his presidency of the Agri- cultural Society its financial success has been marked.

Mr. Snell, in addition to the other honors conferred upon him, has been for years a director in the Farmers' National Bank of Adams. The election, for the second time, to the presidency of the Agricultural Society was tendered to Mr. Snell, but he respect- fully declined, being willing and anxious that such honors should be passed around among his brother farmers, as he recognizes them as sharers in all the honor and credit that belongs to Jefferson county as having the best land, and the most of it in propor- tion to area, the prettiest women, the finest horses, the most superior cheese and butter, and last, but not least, the ablest farming community in the United States.

JAMES A. BELL

WAS born February 8, 1814. His parents, George and Margaret Bell, emigrated from Belfast, in the North of Ireland, in 1812, and settled in the town of Hebron, Washington county, N. Y. In 1824 they removed to Jefferson county, and located on a farm in the town of Brownville, where the subject of this sketch spent his youth and early manhood, working on the farm summers and attending school winters. . The educa- tion which he obtained in the common schools and in the old Watertown Academy, under the instruction of Joseph Mullin, qualified him for teaching, which pursuit he followed several years.

In 1836 he engaged with Dr. James K. Bates in the drug and grocery business, in the village of Brownville. The next year he divided the stock of merchandise with Dr. Bates, and took his own share to Dexter, where extensive improvements were being made in the building of mills and factories, and the United States government was en- gaged in improving navigation at the mouth of Black River. To meet the demands of an increasing trade, and provide transportation facilities, he formed a co-partnership with Major Edmund Kirby, under the firm name of J. A. Bell & Co., enlarging the business, built a steamer and two sailing vessels, which they employed for several years, chiefly in shipping the products of the sur- rounding country to Eastern markets, by the way of Oswego and the canals, and bringing back merchandise and other freight.

Upon the death of Major Kirby, and after the settlement of the business of the firm, Mr. Bell built a new brick store in a more central location, and devoted himself for many years more exclusively to the business of merchandising.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 156

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823- Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094