USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 12
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October 13th, 1880, Mr. Schoellkopf was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Gluck, a daughter of Alva Gluck of Niagara Falls.
JACOB F. SCHOELLKOPF, founder of the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works of this city, is one of Buffalo's principal manufacturers and financiers and is a leading factor in many industrial and other enterprises, the respective fields of Mr. Schoellkopf's activities being found in several sections of the Eastern and Middle States. Mr. Schoellkopf is not only an eminent man of business, but in his particular province is a
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technical expert of a high order, having all his life made a special study of chemistry and having in his early youth and earlier maturity enjoyed the advantages of the most advanced and comprehensive training which Germany affords in that science. Mr. Schoellkopf is also a man of thorough general education. His extensive acquirements have been applied to practical uses, and he is connected in high official capacities with a large number of manufacturing and financial corporations.
Mr. Schoellkopf was born in Buffalo February 27th, 1858. His father was the late Jacob F. Schoellkopf, well-known as the founder of many of the leading industries of Buffalo and Niagara Falls. In his boyhood the son attended the local public schools and later studied at St. Joseph's College. After leaving that institution he went to Germany, where, during the seven years from 1873 to 1880 he pursued a severe course of study at Munich and at Stuttgart. At the latter place he made a specialty of chemistry, graduating from the Polytechnic College in Stuttgart in 1880.
At the close of his university career in Germany, Mr. Schoell- kopf returned to Buffalo and engaged in business. His chemical studies had directed his attention to the subject of coal tar dyes, and he had arrived at the conclusion that the American market offered a great field for these products. The outcome was the establishment of the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works, which were founded by Mr. Schoellkopf shortly after his return to Buffalo and which constitute the most extensive plant of the kind on the continent, the business being operated by the Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Company, of which Mr. Schoellkopf is President. The enterprise has $3,000,000 capital, employs 350 men and pays $15,000 monthly in wages. The plant embraces about thirty-six acres of land, including thirty brick buildings. It has superb shipping facilities and possesses unequaled special equipments.
Mr. Schoellkopf is President of the American Magnesia and
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Covering Company, located at Plymouth Meeting, near Philadelphia; Vice-President of the Commonwealth Trust Company and of the Central National Bank; and a Director of the Columbia National Bank and of the Security, Safe Deposit Company. He is also a Director of the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company; a Director of the National Aniline and Chemical Company of New York; also of the Cliff Paper Company of Niagara Falls and of the International Hotel Company of the same place. He is also interested in the New York State Steel Company.
Though as has been indicated, Mr. Schoellkopf is a man of diverse occupations and one whose duties are arduous in an unusual degree, yet he does not permit himself to be absorbed in business to the exclusion of all other pursuits. His connec- tions with organizations other than those of a financial or industrial character are noticeably with bodies dealing with serious or scientific subjects. He is a member of the Buffalo Historical Society, of the National Geographical Society of Washington, D. C., and of the American Society for Political and Social Science. He is also a trustee of the Buffalo General Hospital.
In 1882 Mr. Schoellkopf married Wilma Spring of Stuttgart, Germany. Their children are: Jacob F., born May 3, 1883, who is a graduate of Cornell University, Class of 1905, and who is now at Strasburg University, Germany; and Ruth Wilma, born May 30th, 1899, and Esther Spring, born June 27, 1901, who resides at the family home in Buffalo.
ALFRED SCHOELLKOPF. By the death of Alfred Schoell- kopf, who departed this life on the 12th of October, 1901, was lost to the community a man of superior business ability and of strict integrity, a manufacturer and financier who in each of these departments of enterprise proved himself thoroughly qualified for the direction of important undertakings, and a citizen who in all relationships, civil, social or domestic,
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commanded and deserved esteem. Mr. Schoellkopf was cut off in his prime, at the time of his decease being in his forty-first year. His death was the more deeply deplored because it destroyed a bright future. Mr. Schoellkopf had a wide circle of friends, and the large interests with which he was connected made him well known in the business world. His amiable nature endeared him to many, and in his home and family relations he was an ideal character.
Alfred Schoellkopf was born in Buffalo on the 1st of July, 1860. Business talents and the spirit of enterprise were his by inheritance, for he was one of the sons of the late Jacob F. Schoellkopf, who was among the most celebrated captains of industry Buffalo has ever known, and whose immense enter- prises in the tannery, milling, hydraulic power and general manufacturing fields made his name famous throughout the State. Alfred Schoellkopf obtained his preparatory education in the public schools and later pursued a course of study at St. Joseph's College. After finishing his career as a student he became associated with his father in the latter's great tannery establishment in Mississippi Street, the specialty of the concern being the tanning of sheepskins. Alfred Schoell- kopf exhibited unusual business capability and excellent executive powers, and in all respects acquitted himself admirably of the important responsibilities committed to him.
The elder Schoellkopf's canal and hydraulic projects at Niagara Falls offered brilliant opportunities for a young business man of energy and grasp of affairs, and soon Alfred Schoellkopf became identified with the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, of which at the time of his death he was a Director. Mr. Schoellkopf's connection with Niagara Falls interests led to his entering the sphere of pure finance as a Director of the Power City Bank.
The biography of Mr. Schoellkopf from the period of his early manhood when he made his first entry into business to the time of his decease is a continuous record of earnest and
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successful endeavor. Mr. Schoellkopf was an example of the man of affairs whose increase of capability steadily keeps pace with the accumulation of experience. He was, in a word, what is popularly characterized as "a growing man." Naturally of fine abilities, as he progressed in the business world he con- stantly developed new resources, and was a large and valuable factor in the great undertakings with which he was concerned. Liberal in his views, he instinctively grasped the spirit of American industrialism. He believed in the future of Buffalo and in that of the Niagara Frontier, and in the two munici- palities wherein his interests lay and where his life labors were performed he was invariably in line with advancement, and was recognized as belonging to the class of citizens who form the progressive elements of the community.
The lamented death of Mr. Schoellkopf occurred on the 12th of October, 1901. At the time when he was called from this life he had reached the stage of his career when, still retaining the energy of youth and having combined with it the advantages of extensive experience, he was better prepared than ever for important achievements. His decease was a deplorable loss to the industrialism and the citizenship of Western New York.
Mr. Schoellkopf was married, the maiden name of his wife having been Emily Graebe. At the time of her marriage she was a resident of Niagara Falls. Mr. Schoellkopf is survived by his widow and three children, Lucia, William Graebe, and Emily.
C. P. HUGO SCHOELLKOPF, who is officially and financially identified with several of the chief manufacturing industries of Buffalo, is widely and favorably known as a business man, a citizen and an individual of high educational attainments and distinguished family and social connections. Mr. Schoellkopf is an instance of a scion of a notable stock worthily maintaining the traditions of his house.
Mr. Schoellkopf is a native of Buffalo, having been born in
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this city on the 6th of July, 1862. Until he was past sixteen, Hugo Schoellkopf pursued his education in the Buffalo public schools. In 1877 he went to Germany, there entering the Oberrealschule in Stuttgart and subsequently becoming a student at the Polytechnic College of the same city. Later he took a course in chemistry at the Polytechnic College in Berlin.
Having completed his studies, in 1885 Mr. Schoellkopf returned to Buffalo and immediately entered the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works, with which he has since been connected.
A man of thorough scientific training and possessing a sound knowledge of chemistry, Mr. Schoellkopf soon found himself very much in demand. Besides his many years of connection with the Schoellkopf Aniline and Chemical Works, Mr. Schoell- kopf occupies a leading place in relation to other manufacturing concerns of importance. He is Treasurer of the Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Company, the firm which operates the Schoellkopf, Analine and Chemical Works, a director of the National Aniline and Chemical Company, Vice-President of the Contact Process Company, a corporation closely allied to the Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Company above referred to, Treasurer of the Shafer Fruit and Cold Storage Company, President of the Canandaigua Brewing Company, a Director of the Central National Bank, and interested largely in the American Magnesia and Covering Company.
In social life, Mr. Schoellkopf is connected with several leading organizations. He has a keen interest in musical culture and is a life member of the Orpheus Society of Buffalo. He is a 32d degree Mason, is affiliated with Ancient Landmarks Lodge No. 441, F. and A. M. and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Order of Elks and the Ellicott and Launch Clubs.
In 1890 Mr. Schoellkopf was united in marriage to Miss Emily Annette, of Fort Lee, New Jersey. They have one son, Alfred H. Schoellkopf.
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SIDWAY FAMILY. The Sidway family of Buffalo is of English origin. James Sidway of Dudley Woodside, England, came to America about the time of the Revolutionary War. Entering the Continental army as a drummer-boy in Capt. Henry Godwin's company of Col. Wessenfel's New York Regi- ment, he served until the regiment was mustered out. He died in Buffalo March 18, 1836. His grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery was the first one marked by Buffalo Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.
James Sidway married Rebecca Milks August 14, 1781. They had two sons, William and Jonathan. The pioneer history of navigation interests on the Great Lakes is woven with the life of Jonathan Sidway. Jonathan Sidway was born in Goshen, N. Y., on the 1st of April, 1784. He came to Buffalo about 1812. Here he was at first engaged in the shipping business. Jonathan Sidway married Parnell St. John, daughter of Gamaliel C. and Margaret K. St. John of Buffalo, January 1, 1826. Mrs. Sidway was born June 6th, 1801, at Aurelius, near Auburn, Cayuga County, N. Y., and died April 29, 1879. She was in her thirteenth year when the town was burned by the British and Indians in 1813. It is an interesting fact that the St. John house, which was located on the west side of Main street about midway between Court and Mohawk streets, was the only house left standing. Of the nine children, the following grew to maturity: Katherine (Mrs. Asaph S. Bemis) of Buffalo; Jonathan, who married Caroline B. Taunt of Buffalo; Franklin and James Henry Sidway.
The death of Jonathan Sidway, senior, occurred on July 21, 1847.
Franklin Sidway, son of Jonathan Sidway, is one of Buffalo's leading citizens. Mr. Sidway's business activities have covered a period of many years and have represented commercial pur- suits, banking, land and many other interests. In addition to his business enterprises, Mr. Sidway has always borne a prominent part in the social life and general citizenship of
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Buffalo. He was born in Buffalo July 23, 1834, educated in private schools, Canandaigua Academy, George W. Francis's school at Yonkers, and other institutions. He made a trip to Europe in 1853. On his return to Buffalo he organized the firm of Sidway, Skinner & Moore, general ship chandlers and grocers, and the partnership continued to exist to the time of the Civil War.
About the middle period of the war Mr. Sidway was com- missioned Colonel of Volunteers, with authority to raise a regiment. He recruited several companies, but owing to the fact that the payment of bounties was stopped about the time he began to organize the regiment, the organization was not completed, and the men were afterward transferred to another regiment.
Later he became Cashier and afterwards Vice-President of the Farmers' & Mechanics' National Bank, and continued until the affairs of the institution were wound up in 1898.
Mr. Sidway has served as Trustee of the Buffalo Savings Bank and the Buffalo City Cemetery (Forest Lawn). He is at the present time identified with many business interests. He is a life member of the Buffalo Library, a member of the Historical Society and former Treasurer and a trustee of the Buffalo General Hospital. He has all his life preserved a keen interest in athletics and out-door sports. He was a member of the old Forester Gun Club, was one of the first four-oared crews ever organized in Buffalo, and was President of the Buffalo Toxo- philiter, the Archery Club of Buffalo. He is a member and Ex-President of the Buffalo Club, was for a number of years President of the Falconwood Club; and at the present time belongs to the Country and Ellicott clubs.
In 1866 Mr. Sidway married Miss Charlotte Spaulding, daughter of the late Hon. Elbridge Gerry Spaulding. The surviving children are: Harold Spaulding, a resident of Pitts- field, Massachusetts, married Mary Chase of Buffalo. They have two children, James and Franklin; Frank St. John; Edith, who
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married William Allan Gardner, have two children, William Hamilton, and Nancy Strong Gardner; Clarence Spaulding, married Genevieve C. Hingston, daughter of Edward J. Hingston of Buffalo. They have two children, Elbridge Spaulding and Charlotte.
A life rich in promise, but cut short ere its fruition, was that of James H. Sidway, brother of Franklin Sidway. James H. Sidway, who was Assistant Foreman of Taylor Hose No. 1, of the old Volunteer Fire Department, suffered death by a deplor- able fatality at the early age of twenty-five, being instantly killed January 25, 1865, at the American Hotel fire, in Buffalo.
FRANK ST. JOHN SIDWAY, lawyer and business man, is a representative example of Buffalo's best class of citizenship. Mr. Sidway is a grandson of E. G. Spaulding, the illustrious financier who devised the Government's currency measures during the Civil War. The subject of this sketch was born in Buffalo December 5, 1869. He was educated at Phillips-Exeter Academy and Harvard University, later entering the Buffalo Law School, from which he was graduated in 1894. The same year he was ad- mitted to the bar from FRANK ST. JOHN SIDWAY. the law offices of Lewis, Moot & Lewis, and began the practice of his profession in Buffalo, where he has built up a large and valuable business.
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He devotes himself chiefly to office practice and to the manage- ment of estates.
Early in his career, Mr. Sidway became identified with the National Guard. In March, 1894, he entered the service as Second Lieutenant of Company B, 74th Regiment; a year later was commissioned First Lientenant, and in the fall of 1897 was elected Captain. When war was declared against Spain he organized Company C, 202d Regiment, and was chosen its Captain, being one of the first four captains to be mustered in. He went to Cuba, served through the campaign, and his regi- ment was the first body of United States troops to enter Havana. April 15, 1899, Captain Sidway was mustered out, and on his return to Buffalo was chosen Captain of Company B, 74th Regiment, which rank he held until his resignation, October 1, 1902.
Mr. Sidway is a member of the Buffalo and Saturn Clubs, the Buffalo Historical Society, the United Spanish War Veterans and the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish American War, and a life member of the Buffalo Library and the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy.
Mr. Sidway married Amelia Roberts, daughter of the Hon. James A. Roberts, former Comptroller of the State of New York, on April 16, 1903. They have one daughter, Margaret St. John.
WILLIAM H. WALKER. By the death of William H. Walker Buffalo lost one of her foremost citizens. A repre- sentative man of business, his pursuits were directed along the kindred lines of commerce and finance and he won success in both. He was one of Buffalo's staunch, conservative men of affairs. He was a practical philanthropist, a friend of educa- tion and culture and a pillar of religion and charity.
William Henry Walker was born in Utica, N. Y., August 20, 1826, and was a son of Stephen Walker, a well-known builder in that city. The elder Walker came with his family to Buffalo
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in 1832. He was educated in the public schools, Buffalo Academy, and the Albany Law School. When eighteen years old he entered the employ of Orrin P. Ramsdell, one of the pioneer wholesale shoe dealers of Buffalo, as a clerk, and was admitted to partnership in 1856. In 1876 the firm was dissolved and Mr. Walker continued the business alone. Under his management the enterprise prospered greatly, and the house which he established has become one of the largest and most reliable in Western New York, its trade extending through- ont New York, Pennsyl- vania and Ohio, and into the far Western States. He was also First Vice- President of the Fidelity Trust Company. He was active in religious, philan- thropic and educational matters and aided such causes in a substantial way by gifts and ener- getic support. He was a deeply religious man, and a member of St. Paul's WILLIAM H. WALKER. Church. He served as Warden and member of the Junior Vestry of St. Paul's, and when the church was destroyed by fire in 1888 he was among the foremost in furthering the restoration of the edifice. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Western New York, from 1866 to the time of his death. He was a Trustee of Hobart College; an active member of the Mer- chants' Exchange, of which he also served as Vice-President; a member and former President of the Buffalo Clearing House
1
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Association; a Director and a leading supporter of the Young Men's Christian Association; Vice-President of the Buffalo General Hospital, of which at the time of his death he was Acting President; a life member of the Buffalo Historical Society, and a member of the Buffalo Club.
October 21, 1869, Mr. Walker married Miss Edith Kimberley, a daughter of the late John L. Kimberley of Buffalo. Mrs. Walker was a woman of noble qualities of mind and heart. The death of Mrs. Walker occurred on the 6th of December, 1893. The children of the marriage are: John Kimberley and William H. Walker, and a daughter, Evelyn Walker.
JAMES D. WARREN was a representative figure in Buffalo journalism. As editor and proprietor of the Buffalo Commer- cial Advertiser, now the Commercial, Mr. Warren was widely known in the newspaper world and he was equally prominent in public life.
Mr. Warren was born in Bennington, Wyoming County, N. Y., January 19th, 1823. His father, Orsamus Warren, was a farmer and one of the pioneers of Western New York. From Bennington the family removed to Wales, Erie County, and later to Clarence, where Orsamus Warren bought a farm and carried on a store. When his father came to Erie County James D. Warren was about two years old. As a boy he attended school, worked on the farm and assisted his father in his business. When twenty years old he made a tour of the South, spending a year in Natchez, Miss. Returning North, for a number of years he engaged in mercantile and farming pur- suits in Clarence. Meantime he became active in politics and served several terms as Supervisor. In 1854 he was elected County Treasurer for a term of three years. Subsequently he held for two or three terms the office of Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.
In 1861 Mr. Warren began his life work as editor and publisher. In April of that year, with Rufus Wheeler and
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Joseph Candee, he became joint purchaser of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, with which newspaper he continued to . be identified till his death. The history of this paper began in 1811, when it was founded as the Buffalo Gazette. It passed into the hands of a succession of owners, from a weekly became a daily, and was issued as the Daily Commercial Advertiser on the 1st of January, 1835. In May, 1839, the Buffalo Journal was merged with the Commercial Advertiser. In 1862 Mr. Candee withdrew from the business, his interest being purchased by Messrs. Warren and Wheeler. Immediately afterward Mr. James N. Matthews was admitted to partnership, the firm becoming Wheeler, Matthews & Warren. Two years later Mr. Wheeler retired and the firm was styled Matthews & Warren. In 1877 Mr. Warren purchased the interest of Mr. Matthews and from that time was the sole proprietor and publisher of the Commercial Advertiser. Under his manage- ment the paper became the leading Republican newspaper of Western New York. As an editor Mr. Warren won and retained a distinctive place as a stalwart exponent of Republican principles and as a broad-minded representative of the best interests of the community. His conception of journalism was high and he maintained his ideals with unfaltering constancy. Originally in Main street, the plant of the Commercial Advertiser was removed in 1868 to the Adams Block iu Washington street. In September of the same year the building was destroyed by fire. It was promptly rebuilt and the establishment continued to occupy it till April 10, 1882, when the business was removed to its present new building at Washington and North Division streets.
In addition to his newspaper interests, Mr. Warren was President of White's Bank, then one of the well-known financial institutions of Buffalo.
Mr. Warren had an active share in Republican party manage- ment, was Chairman and for many years a member of the State Committee, and on numerous occasions served as a delegate to,
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State and national conventions. He was what was known as a stalwart Republican, and was the recognized leader of that branch of the party in Western New York.
Mr. Warren was married twice. His first wife, to whom he was married October 31, 1845, was Miss Laura Love, daughter of George Love of Buffalo. She died in 1849, leaving one son, Orsamus G. Warren. In 1851 Mr. Warren married for his second wife Miss Mary Mills, daughter of Judge Mills of Clarence, N. Y. The children of this union were one son, William C. Warren, and two daughters, Miss Kate and Miss Mary Warren of Buffalo.
The death of James D. Warren occurred on the 16th of December, 1885.
WILLIAM C. WARREN, editor and publisher of the Buffalo Commercial, is one of the foremost newspaper men of Western New York, a leading Republican and a citizen prominent in the business, political and social life of Buffalo. Mr. Warren is in the prime of years and vigor and is probably the youngest of Buffalo's newspaper proprietors. His ability as a journalist may be characterized as a natural result of inheritance and environment. The name of Warren is one of the oldest in the history of Buffalo newspaper enterprise, and the subject of this sketch was brought up in an atmosphere of journalism and became familiarized in early life with the duties of editor and publisher. In both capacities he has won decisive success, and his newspaper pursuits have run parallel with a current of equally notable activities in politics and public affairs.
Mr. Warren was born in Buffalo on the 4th of August, 1859, and has always made the Queen City his home. His father was James D. Warren, for many years editor and proprietor of the Commercial Advertiser. William C. Warren received his early education in the Buffalo public schools, attended Briggs' Classical School, and graduated from-the scientific department of Yale University in 1880. He then became associated in the
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