Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 74

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374

USA > New York > Albany County > Landmarks of Albany County, New York > Part 74

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).

135

through coming generations. In 1853 Mr. Manning married Mary Little, who died in 1882. There were four children: James Hilton Manning, so long identified with the Argus, and Frederick Clinton Manning, a prominent engraver of Albany, are his sons; and two daughters, Mary E., wife of Jules C. Van der Oudermeuluen ; Anna, wife of John A. Delehanty. November 19, 1884, he married Mary Margaretta Fryer, daughter of William J. Fryer, of Albany.

JOHN M. BIGELOW, M. D., PH. D.

JOHN M. BIGELOW, M. D., Ph. D., was born in Albany on the 22d day of August, 1847, and descends from one of the oldest and most respected families in American colonial history. His ancestors migrated from Braintree, Essex county, England, and settled near Boston, Mass., soon after the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620. From that time until the present they have been conspicuous in professional, commercial, civil, military and social affairs, many of them holding high official posts in the army, the State and the nation. They were especially prominent in developing the early history of New England and in shaping the destinies of the Massachusetts colony. Among Dr. Bigelow's ancestors are Dr. Jacob Bigelow and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, D.C.L., of Boston ; Hon. John Bigelow, secretary of state; Harriet Beecher Stowe, the famous authoress; and Hon. Alpheus Bigelow, justice of the Supreme Court; and many who were active as soldiers, officers or civilians during the war of the Revolu- tion. On his mother's side he is of pure German stock, being a descendant of Jacob von Zimmer, a general in the army of Frederick the Great, who settled in America in 1732. Another famous ancestor was Frederick Basslaer, a professor in the Univer- sity of Berne, Switzerland, who came to the United States in 1740. The late T. S. Doolittle, D.D., LL. D., vice-president of Rutgers College, was also connected with the family.

Dr. Bigelow's great-great-grandfather, Dr. Josiah Bigelow, of Weston, Mass., was born in 1730 and died in 1810, and was a prominent physician, as was also his son, Dr. Uriah Bigelow, of Worcester, N. Y., who was born in 1765 and died in 1842. His grandfather, Dr. Uriah Gregory Bigelow, sr., of Worcester, and son of Dr. Uriah, was born in 1794, married Miss Henrietta Barnes in 1816, became a member of the New York State Medical Society, and died in 1850. Dr. Bigelow's father, Dr. Uriah Gregory Bigelow, jr., was born in Worcester, N. Y., in 1821, married Lovina von Zimmer in 1843, settled in Albany in May, 1844, and died here in February, 1872; he was at one time president of the Albany County Medical Society, curator of the Albany Medical College, member of the New York State Medical Society, and was one of the leading physicians of the city.

Dr John M. Bigelow inherited the sturdy characteristics and rare mental endow- ments of this splendid ancestry, and ably represents the fifth of five generations of talented physicians and surgeons. From early youth he has worked assiduously, first, to secure an education, and afterward to practice those principles which hard and continued study enabled him to master. He was graduated from the Albany Boys' Academy with full diploma in 1863 and won several prizes, among them the Van Rensselaer classical medal. In 1864 he entered the junior class of Williams

136

College, where he made rapid progress in his studies, and from which he was gradu- ated with the degree of A. B. in 1866. Soon afterward he began the study of medi- cine at the Albany Medical College and later entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York city, and received the degree of M. D. from each institution in 1870. He became a practicing physician in Albany, by license in 1869.

Dr. Bigelow was among the first physicians in the United States to make a specialty of diseases of the throat and nose, in the treatment of which he has had a wide and valuable experience. There are few practitioners in the State who are better known or enjoy a higher reputation. His work in colleges and hospitals has been varied. He was professor of materia medica and therapeutics and of diseases of the throat and nose in the Albany Medical College from 1870 to 1896, when he resigned the former chair to devote his attention to the latter. He has been attending physician to the Albany City and St. Peter's Hospitals since 1870, and the Old Men's Home since 1874, and is now attending physician and surgeon for the diseases of the throat and nose to each of these institutions. In therapeutics he is a recognized authority in this country. His lectures, which are mainly extempore, embody the most ad- vanced and tenable thoughts and facts of the science and art of medicine of the present age, and the remark is often made that they have the finish of a book. They are certainly combined with and illustrated by a long and successful practice, and are remarkable for their command of language and clear, concise presentation of the subject. His connection with the Albany Medical College has been of inestimable value to that institution and to the hundreds of students who have pursued their professional education under his able and conscientious teachings.

Dr. Bigelow was county physician in 1871, has been president, and for twenty-seven years a member of the Albany County Medical Society, and is a member of the New York State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has been a member of the International Medical Congress, was one of the honorary presidents of the Pan-American Congress, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Delta Phi college fraternities, and of Masters Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., of Albany. He is a life member and ex-president of the Young Men's Association, an honorary member of the Albany Burgesses Corps, a charter member of the Albany Club, an associate member of the Albany Press Club, a member of the Unconditional Repub- lican Club, and an honorary member of several other organizations. In March, 1892, Rutgers College conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D. He is one of the most charitable, public spirited and benevolent of men, kind hearted, companionable, and sympathetic, and is always ready to relieve distress and encourage worthy enter- prises. He is a large property owner, is one of the substantial and foremost citizens of Albany, and is universally esteemed and respected as a gentleman and highly honored as a physician.

On February 14, 1874, Dr. Bigelow was married to Miss Sara A., daughter of the late Thomas P. and Amelia T. Crook, of Albany, where she was born January 19, 1848. She died September 21, 1879. Their only son and child, Albert Stewart Bige- low, died November 26, 1876.

137

JOHN H. FARRELL.

JOHN H. FARRELL was born on the banks of the Hudson River, near Albany, Sep- tember 1, 1839, and was educated at No. 8 public school in Albany and the Christian Brothers' Academy in Troy. When fifteen he entered the employ of Hugh J. Hastings of the Albany Knickerbocker and remained with him nearly two years; he then entered the employ of Luther Tucker, editor of the Country Gentle- man and Cultivator, where he remained until January, 1870. In 1863 he accepted an appointment to edit the telegraphie dispatches for the morning and evening papers in Albany and continued to do this until January, 1870, when he resigned and succeeded Daniel Shaw as city editor of the Albany Argus. The Sunday Press was started in May, 1870, by E. H. Gregory, J. H. Mulligan, John T. Maguire, Myron H. Rooker, James MacFarlane and John H. Farrell. In September, 1870, the first three named persons sold their interests in the paper to Mr. Farrell and on June 1, 1871, he retired from the Argus to devote his energies to the Sunday Press, which was in 1877 made a daily. In August following Mr. Farrell purchased the Knickerbocker and consolidated it with the Daily Press. In March, 1891, after twenty-one years' partnership, Mr. Farrell sold his one half interest in the Press and Knickerbocker and Sunday Press to his partners for $50,000 cash, and after a brief rest purchased the Evening Union. During the summer of 1891 he purchased the Albany Sun and Evening Times and combined the three dailies in one called the Times-Union. Mr. Farrell's ability as a newspaper editor has been acquired by an exceedingly active daily experience, covering the entire period of his manhood. He was one of the founders of the United Press and has been its vice-president, and has also been a member of the executive committee of the New York State Associated Press. He was one of the founders of the American Newspaper Publishers' Asso- ciation and for several years has been a member of its executive committee. He was president of the New York State Editorial Association in 1895-96; is a vice-president of the Home Savings Bank of Albany ; a director in the Albany City National Bank and the Commerce Insurance Company; and is a trustee of St. Agnes Cemetery, St. Vincent Male and Female Orphan Asylums of Albany, and the Albany Hospital for Incurables. He was a charter member of the Fort Orange Club, and is deeply inter- ested either as officer or stockholder in several enterprises in the city of Albany.

In June, 1869, Mr. Farrell was married to Miss Mary V. Gibbons, of New York, and they have three sons and four daughters: James C. Farrell, the eldest son, is manager of the Argus; John F., the second son, is a lawyer, while Joseph A. is on the editorial staff of the Times.Union.

JAMES W. COX, M. D.

JAMES WILLIAM Cox, M. D., son of Thomas and Sally (Bump) Cox, was born Feb- ruary 5, 1828, in Gilbertsville, Otsego county, N. Y., where his paternal ancestor, Joseph Cox, from England, settled in 1987. Thomas was a soldier at Sackett's Har- bor in the war of 1812, while his father-in-law. Jacob Bump, of Uxbridge, Mass.,

138

served in the Colomal war, was present at the assault and capture of Quebec, and signed, with others, the " Association Test" of 1776. The Cox family were prom- inent farmers in Otsego county.

Dr. J. W. Cox was educated privately under Rev. James Hughes and at the Gil- bertsville Academy and when eighteen began teaching school at a salary of $10 per month. His father died when he had reached the age of twenty and he was obliged to attend to the farm. When twenty-one he was elected superintendent of common schools on the Whig ticket and about the same time began the study of medicine with Dr. Charles Sumner of Gilbertsville. In the fall of 1848 he came to Albany and completed his medical studies with Dr. Henry M. Paine, the eminent homeopathist and was graduated as M. D. from the Albany Medical College in Jan- uary, 1852. For two years he was associated in practice with his last preceptor. In 1854 he opened an office on the northeast corner of Maiden Lane and Chapel street. and in 1862 moved thence to No. 109 State street, where he died June 9, 1896.

He was a man of rare mental attainments, ranked high among the leading home- opathists of the State and was successful and widely respected. He was a senior member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, a member of the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society, a founder and president of the Albany County Homeopathic Medical Society, a prime mover in establishing the Homeopathic Free Dispensary in Plain street, and was one of the founders of the Albany City Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary, of which he was consulting physician at the time of his death. He was continuously in charge of the homeopathic ward at the Child's Hospital; was a thirty-second degree Mason, holding membership in Mas- ters Lodge No. 5; was a Whig and later a Republican and in 1863 served as United States medical examiner in Albany to examine recruits, and was a charter member of the Fort Orange Club.

In 1854 he married Hannah M., daughter of Joseph Thomas and Hannah (Thorpe) Gilbert, and granddaughter of Abijah Gilbert, the founder of Gilbertsville. She was born in 1830, and died March 16, 1885, leaving four children: Caroline Gilbert, wife of Frederick Harris, an attorney; James W., jr., born in April, 1859, now president of the Albany Felt Company ; and Drs. Frederick J. and Edward G., who succeeded their father in practice.

Frederick Joseph Cox, M. D., born June 27, 1866, was graduated from Greylock Institute at South Williamstown, Mass., in 1885, from Williams College in 1889, and from the Albany Medical College in 1892, having read medicine meanwhile with his father. He is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the New York State and Albany County Homeopathic Medical Societies, the sons of the American Revolution and the Fort Orange Club, and visiting physician to the Albany City Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary.

Edward Gilbert Cox, M. D., was born February 6. 1868, was graduated from Grey- lock Institute in 1887 and matriculated at Williams College in the class of 1891. He was graduated as M. D. from the Albany College in 1893, is a member of all the societies to which his brother, Dr. Frederick J. Cox, belongs and is attending sur- geon to the Albany City Homeopathic Hospital and secretary and treasurer of the Albany County Homeopathic Medical Society; vice-president New York State Homeopathic Medical Society. In October, 1892, he married Mary L. Adams of Albany.

139

SAMUEL HAND.

SAMUEL HAND was born in Elizabethtown, Essex county, N. Y., May 1, 1833. He acquired his early education from his father, Augustus C. Hand, for a time a justice of the Supreme Court, and from Robert S. Hale, who were both men of scholarly tastes. At fourteen he entered the college at Middlebury, Vt., which he left after two years to go to Union College, from which he was graduated in 1851. He then returned to Elizabethtown, studied law with his father and was admitted to the bar, where he practiced until 1859, when he went to Albany and formed a partnership with J. V. L. Pruyn, who retired from practice, however, a year later. After a short time Mr. Hand was taken into the firm of Cagger & Porter, and upon the election of Mr Porter as judge of the Court of Appeals, succeeded to the appellate work of the firm which was at the time large, as it was in great measure the inheritance from that of Nicholas Hill, when the firm had been that of Hill, Cagger & Porter. Mr. C'agger was accidentally killed in 1868 and Mr. Hand again found himself alone, though this time with a large practice.

In 1869 he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Matthew Hale, to which were added later Nathan Swartz and Charles S. Fairchild. In 1881 Mr. Hand dis- solved his partnership with Mr. Hale, who was at the time the only other member of the firm, and he continued practice alone until he stopped altogether, shortly before his death, May 21, 1886.

Mr. Hand's practice as a lawyer was almost from the first largely confined to ap- pellate work, in which he attained great skill and a high repute. During the ten years preceding his death it is probable that no lawyer was retained in as many cases before the Court of Appeals as he, and he was probably the last of a long line of able lawyers in Albany who could devote themselves wholly to this cream of legal practice in the court of last resort ; since by the increased facilities of travel lawyers can now take charge of their own work in this court, and so can save the expense of counsel to their clients and gain reputation for themselves. It would be needless to enumerate the most important cases in which Mr. Hand wasengaged, because nothing is more ephemeral than the interest which any individual case occasions, though it be of high importance to the parties and involve an important point of law. Perhaps the Parish will case and the suit of the State against the canal ring may yet be gen- erally remembered.

In 1863 Mr. Hand was appointed corporation counsel of Albany to succeed Clinton Cassidy, and in 1869, reporter to the Court of Appeals, a position which he held until 1872, when he resigned after reporting six volumes, in order the better to conduct his increasing practice at the bar. In 1876 Mr. Hand declined an appointment by Governor Tilden as justice of the Supreme Court, but in June, 1878, he accepted an appointment by Governor Robinson as associate judge of the Court of Appeals, in the place of Judge Allen, who had died, and he held this office until the end of that year, being the youngest man but one who had held the position. He failed of the Democratic nomination for the election in the ensuing November owing to the oppo- sition of Tammany Hall, of which John Kelly was at the time the leader, and from that time he held no further public office.

Mr. Hand came of a strongly Democratic family and was always a staunch sup-

140

porter of that party. He was an intimate friend of Governor Tilden, who wished him to run for governor in 1876, after Horatio Seymour had declined the nomination, when Tilden was running for president. The leaders decided to nominate Mr. Hand, but he declined and Lucius Robison was nominated and elected. In 1875 he served as a member of a Commission on Reform of Municipal Government, of which Senator Evarts was chairman. It was as a member of this commission in advocating the restriction of the suffrage in cities that Mr. Hand incurred the enmity of Tam- many Hall which proved fatal to his nomination for the position of judge of the Court of Appeals. He was also intimate with President Cleveland while he was governor and was one of his trusted advisers at the same time.

In 1885 Mr. Hand was appointed upon a special water commission for Albany and was president of the same. He was one of the first vice-presidents of the New York State Bar Association and its second president for two terms. At the time of his death he was president of the Chi Psi Alumni Society of this section and a governor of the Fort Orage Club. In 1884 he received the degree of LL. D. from Union Col- lege. In April, 1863, he married Lydia Learned, daughter of Billings P. Learned, by whom he had two children, a daughter and a son. His widow and children all survived him.

Mr. Hand was a man of good scholarly and literary attainments, in this respect a distinct exception to many lawyers who attain high eminence at the bar. He accumu - lated a large private library, containing some books of rarity and beauty, which was particularly strong in history and biography. He delighted especially in fine engravings and good editions, of which he acquired a number, and at one time he edited De Bury's Philobiblion, a little work in which his own tastes gave him a ready sympathy. His conversation was varied and showed humane learning, cer- tainly without any pedantry. Particularly obnoxious to him was the loose and careless use of language, as for example in the form of "slang." and perhaps in his endeavor to use lauguage with a nice taste and conscientious intelligence did he show most that real culture which is seldom a characteristic of men of affairs. He took great pleasure also in music and had fine discrimination for that which was excellent. It may well be doubted whether at the time of his death there was in his city a man who excelled Mr. Hand at once in his professional success and his culture.

JOHN G. BURCH.

JOHN G. BURCH was born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., in 1827. He is a son of Henry and Susan (Garvey) Burch, and is descended from a long line of English an- cestors. The Burch family left the mother country previous to the Revolution and came to America to seek a fortune. They possessed courage and perseverance and after settling in New Jersey soon displayed these characteristics. Ebenezer Burch, the grandfather of John G. Burch, won distinction as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Henry Burch fought in the war of 1812. Both Mr. Burch's grandfather and grandmother received a pension and his father received a very handsome bounty, richly deserved. Mr. Burch attended the common schools and when just of age re-

JOHN G. BURCH.

٨٫٠٠ E.

Journey, A. M. Town

141

moved to Albany where he cast his first vote for old General Taylor for president in 1848. Railroading was a new enterprise in those days, and so, anxious to associate himself with a growing business, Mr. Burch connected himself with the Central Rail- road as a master painter. For twenty-five years he worked for this company and was a witness of its steady growth to become the greatest road in the world. Mr. Burch was foreman of the first gang of men at West Albany, which has since become noted for its large railroad yard, and consequently he was a pioneer of West Albany. He has seen West Albany grow from nothing more than a huckle- berry bush to its present size, as he says. Mr. Burch's keen foresight led him to believe that in time West Albany would grow to be a prosperous suburb of Albany, masmuch as the railroad business was increasing so rapidly. He therefore decided to open a general trading store and in 1873 entered the business of selling groceries and provisions and in connection with the store, a coal and wood yard. His was the first store of its kind opened on that hill and the first coal and wood yard west of Lark street. He was associated with Mr. George W. Gibbons as a partner for eleven years. The business increased so rapidly that after a time Mr. Burch gave up the store and confined himself to selling coal and wood exclusively, which business he is engaged in to-day. In 1871 Mr. Burch was elected to represent the Ninth ward in the Com- mon Council of Albany. After the expiration of this term, he was re-elected and chosen president of the board of aldermen. While Mr. Burch was president of the board, occurred the mayoralty election when George H. Thacher, Democrat, ran against Edmund L. Judson, Republican. The Democrats counted Mr. Judson out and he took it to the courts. Mr. Thacher, then mayor, fearing an unfavorable de- cision, resigned. As a consequence, Mr. Burch had the honor of acting as mayor until the election of the following spring. Mr. Burch made many friends while act- ing as mayor and displayed rare executive ability. With the exception of his first vote, which was cast for a Whig, Mr. Burch has voted the Republican ticket from Fremont to Mckinley. Inasmuch as Mr. Burch was one of the first settlers and the first storekeeper in West Albany, he has acquired considerable property there. No work of a public nature, such as paving of streets or laying of drains or sewers, is attempted without first consulting him. He holds a leading place among property

owners. In 1890 he took his son, George Seward, in partnership with him. He is no club or society man, for he believes all his time belongs to his business and his family. He is very domestic in his tastes. In 1853 he married Miss Mary A. Green of Clinton, Oneida county. Her family originally came from Connecticut Their family consists of two daughters and three sons.

JAMES A. MCKOWN.

HON. JAMES A. McKowy, who has won for himself a prominent position at the Al- bany bar, was born in the town of Guilderland, Albany county, N. Y., March 31, 1819. His father was Absalom MeKown, a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of Albany county. His mother's maiden name was Edith Le Grange, daughter of John Le Grange, esq., a man of high standing in his day. The advantages of

142

young Mckown for obtaining an education were confined principally to the common district school. In his youthful days our present system of general education was unknown and institutions ranking above the common schools were few, but he utilized to the fullest extent every advantage he had. He obtained a very good practical education with which he attained his success in life through his own un- aided efforts. He therefore belongs to that large and valuable class of men with - which the legal and generally all professions abound-self-made men. He early de- cided to become a lawyer, and to bring that to pass he directed every energy. In recognition of his intelligence, sound judgment, practical good sense and legal in- formation, he was quite early in life elected a justice of the peace at Guilderland, serving in a very acceptable manner for the almost unprecedented long period of eighteen years. His eminent services as a justice of the peace were fully recog- nized, not only by the people or Guilderland, but by the people of the county at large, and this, in 1852, brought him forward as a candidate for the office of associate judge of Albany county. He was elected by a good majority and took his seat on the bench of the County Court and Court of Sessions. In 1853 he was again a can- didate and was re-elected. His judicial term extended two years, and was very ac- ceptable to the people of the county. Mr. Mckown was a close, industrious and appreciative legal student, but he did not apply for admission to the bar until 1853, when, on motion of that distinguished jurist, Hon. John K. Porter, he was admitted to practice in all the courts of this State, and in 1865 he was, on motion of Ira Harris, admitted to the United States Supreme Court. In April, 1856, Mr. Mckown made the city of Albany his residence, where he has continued to reside from that time down to the present. His judicial mind and method prepared the way for his election to the office of surrogate of Albany county. This event took place in the fall of 1855. The duties of this office are important and difficult. No judicial posi- tion is more so than that of surrogate. It requires a peculiar caste of mind and much depth of learning to successfully discharge the duties of the office. We can truly say that Mr. McKown displayed ability, learning and industry of a high order. His administration was therefore very successful and he retired from the office with the good wishes and good opinion of the bar and the public. In his practice he has no specialty, but has conducted a general legal business with success, and has al- ways surrounded himself with a respectable and profitable clientage. His long identification with the Albany bar, his high and upright character, his honorable course as a practitioner, have given him an eminent place in his profession. Mr. Mckown belongs to the Republican party, and though he believes most thoroughly in the principles of that party, yet he is not bigoted. He is not nor ever has been a seeker after office or place. He favors the Baptist church and is a member of Wads- worth Lodge, F. & A. M. In 1837 he was united in marriage to Miss Alida Van Valkenburgh, by whom he has one daughter living, Mrs. William A. Amsdell.

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.

Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 74

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374