USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 15
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a total of thirteen years. For ten years Mr. Wheeler acted as Chairman of the Board. Ever since the organization of the Civil Service Reform Association in 1883, Judge Wheeler has been a member of that body. He has been extremely active and influential in securing legislative measures for the advance- ment of Civil Service and has effectually blocked many bills tending to destroy the merit system. In 1906 Governor Higgins appointed Mr. Wheeler a member of the State Tax Commission authorized to revise the tax laws of the State.
Judge Wheeler is a Director of the J. N. Matthews Company, and President of the New York and Buffalo Title Insurance Company. He is a life member of the Young Men's Association, and has served several terms as its Director. He has been con- nected with the University of Buffalo ever since its organiza- tion, and is Professor of Corporation Law in the Buffalo Law School. He is a member of the University Club, has served two terms as a member of its faculty and one term as its Vice- President. He belongs to Buffalo Chapter Sons of the Revolu- tion, and for two terms was its President. He is connected with the Historical Society and the Society of Natural Sciences. Judge Wheeler attends Trinity Church.
June 28, 1883, Judge Wheeler married Frances Munro Rochester, daughter of Dr. Thomas F. Rochester and Margaret De Lancey Rochester of Buffalo. Dr. Rochester was for many years one of the most prominent physicians of Western New York. Mrs. Rochester was a daughter of the late Bishop William H. De Lancey of the diocese of Western New York. Judge and Mrs. Wheeler have two children, Thomas Rochester Wheeler, born April 29th, 1885, and Jane Barker Wheeler, born April 3d, 1887.
HON. JOHN GEORGE WALLENMEIER, former State Treasurer and one of the foremost Republicans of Western New York, comes of sturdy German stock. Mr. Wallenmeier is the son of John G. and Caroline Wallenmeier, his father coming
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originally from Wittenberg, and his mother from Stuttgart. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom only three survive, the subject of this sketch, Elizabeth W. Wallenmeier, and Lena, now Mrs. Albert Utpatel of Lansing, Mich. The elder Wallenmeier came to Buffalo in 1853 and settled in Black Rock. Mr. Wallenmeier was a baker in Germany and followed the same business in this country. In 1865 he removed to Tonawanda and there continued in the bakery business until 1875. He died on March 24, 1904. His wife died Dec. 20, 1879.
John G. Wallenmeier, Jr., was born in Buffalo October 10, 1862, but at the age of three was taken to Tonawanda, when the family removed there, and has always made that city his home. He received his education in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen became a driver on the Erie Canal. It was not long before he and a brother owned a canal boat of their own, but when eighteen years old Mr. Wallenmeier sold out his interest and went to work at the black- smith's trade. May, 1883, found him in the grocery business, to which he sub- sequently added a meat market and conducted both until the spring of 1894, when he disposed of his interests. He has JOHN G. WALLEN MEIER. been active in other business enterprises in Tonawanda, promi- nent among them being the Niagara Savings and Loan Asso- ciation, of which he was one of the founders in 1890. He served
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as its President for several years, retiring in 1896, and the same year became its Treasurer, which office he holds at the present time. Since the organization under the laws of the State of New York of the Buffalo Burial Park Association in 1901, which founded the Elmlawn Cemetery in the town of Tonawanda, Mr. Wallenmeier has been actively interested in it, having been one of the founders and ever since one of the Directors, and at the present time its Secretary and General Manager.
Mr. Wallenmeier is recognized as the Republican leader in the Northern part of Erie County. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at St. Louis in 1896, which nominated Mckinley for President, and in 1904 at Chicago that nominated Roosevelt, and since 1895 has been a delegate to all the State Conventions. At the Saratoga Convention in the fall of 1904 he received the nomination for State Treasurer. His election followed, and he filled the duties of this important office with signal ability and success. Renominated in the fall of 1906, he was defeated with all the other candidates on the state ticket except the Governor. Prior to his election as State Treasurer, Mr. Wallenmeier had long been active in Republican politics and had more than once been honored with local offices. In 1894, when the office of police justice was created in Tonawanda, Mr, Wallenmeier was appointed to that office by the Tonawanda Council. The following year he was regularly elected to the Police-Justiceship, for a four year term. In 1898 he was appointed Postmaster of Tonawanda and held the office for six years. Both city and town of Tona- wanda were formerly Democratic by large majorities, but of late years, largely through Mr. Wallenmeier's activities and popularity, the figures have been reversed.
November 14, 1883, Mr. Wallenmeier married Hattie May Koch, daughter of Robert L. and Elizabeth (Kibler) Koch of Tonawanda.
Mr. Wallenmeier is a member of Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. M., and served as its Master for three years. He also
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is a member of Tonawanda Chapter, No. 278, Royal Arch Masons, of which he served as High Priest for two years, and of Lake Erie Commandery, No. 20, Knights Templar, which in 1908 chose him its Generalissimo. He also is a member of Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and of Zuleika Grotto. From 1878 until 1886 he served as a Volunteer Fire- man, and in April, 1897, he was elected a member of the Tona- wanda Firemen's Benevolent Association and by unanimous vote was made the Secretary of that body. From his youth Mr. Wallenmeier has been a member of the German Evangelical Church.
CAPTAIN HENRY W. BRENDEL, former Collector of United States Customs of the Port of Buffalo, is also an able lawyer. Of German extraction, his father, Peter Brendel, was born in Bavaria in 1835. Peter Brendel came to Buffalo in the 50's, where he learned the cooper trade, which he followed for a number of years, later engaging in farming.
Henry W. Brendel was born in Buffalo December 10, 1857, and was educated in the public schools. He then entered the law office of Hawkins & Fischer, remaining one year, when he became a clerk in the office of Delavan F. Clark. He was admitted to the bar in January, 1879, and the same year he formed a law partnership with Gen. James C. Strong. When later this copartnership was dissolved, Mr. Brendel practiced alone until he became associated with ex-Assemblyman Frank W. Standart. After his retirement from the Collectorship in the spring of 1906, Mr. Brendel resumed the practice of law, entering into partnership with his former associate, Mr. Stan- dart, and with Francis Bagot, under the present firm name of Brendel, Standart & Bagot. April 1st, 1878, he enlisted as a private in Company D, of the Seventy-Fourth Regiment, in the N. G. N. Y. Subsequently he was transferred to the Sixty- Fifth Regiment, being commissioned Second Lieutenant in Company I, and later as Captain. He saw active service during
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the railroad strike in East Buffalo in 1893, in the Tonawanda lumber strike of '93, and in the Spanish-American War. In August, 1895, he received a gold medal for twenty-five years of continuous service in the National Guard.
When the Spanish-American War broke out, Captain Brendel, then in command of Company I, 65th Regiment, volun- teered and accompanied his regiment during the campaign, serving from May 1, 1898, until mustered out November 19th of the same year.
During the decade from 1885 to 1896 he was one of the recog- nized Republican leaders in Erie County, and is at the present time among the most prominent members of the party. For a number of years he served as a member of the Republican Excutive Committee, and Treasurer for three years.
October 7th, 1897, Mr. Brendel was appointed by President Mckinley Collector of Customs for the port of Buffalo. Mr. Brendel is interested in several leading Buffalo business enter- prises. He is a Mason of the 32d degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, a member of Modestia Lodge of Masons and of Lake Erie Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a Director of the Buffalo Orpheus, and a member of the Saengerbund, the Teutonia Maennerchor, and other singing societies. On the occasion of the Saengerfest of the North American Saenger- bund, in 1901, Mr. Brendel was a member of the Board of Directors, served on the Finance Committee, and was Treasurer of the organization. He belongs to the Harugari, the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Treasurer of the German Society of Buffalo, Treasurer of the German Alliance of Buffalo, and St. Stephen's Evangelical Church.
December 6, 1891, Mr. Brendel married Augusta Haupt, daughter of Frederick and Henrietta (Fuchs) Haupt. They have two daughters, Freda H. and Elsa Brendel.
EUGENE M. BARTLETT, one of the leading lawyers of Buffalo and Western New York, comes from a long line of
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distinguished English ancestors, who trace their descent back to one of the sturdy warriors who followed William the Conqueror from Normandy to England in the Eleventh Century, since which time, in the more peaceful, but equally stirring world of politics and public affairs, the family has been promi- nent in England and later in America. Curiously enough one of the descendants of a lieutenant of William the Conqueror of England, signed the American Declaration of Independence.
The family from which Mr. Bartlett is directly descended traces its lineage back to Adam Bartlett, who accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy and fought under his banner at the decisive battles at Hastings in 1066. When the Norman Chieftain rewarded his victorious followers with tracts of English land, Adam Bartlett was given five thousand acres in Sussex, which have been held by the family from that day to this. The family mansion, still standing, was built in the thirteenth century. Another ancient edifice on the estate is a Norman stone church, built in 1309, and which is still in use. The present owner of the estate, which in accordance with the English law descends to the eldest male descendant, is Sir Walter G. Bartlett, 24th in the line from Adam Bartlett.
The first Bartlett to come to America was Richard Bartlett, who came from Sussex and settled at Newbury, Mass., in 1636. His descendants have played stirring rôles in the history of the nation they helped to found. Among these, the most dis- tinguished was Josiah Bartlett, whose elder brother, Stephen, was the great-great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Josiah Bartlett headed the New Hampshire delegation to the Congress of 1776, and as such signed the Declaration of Independence, his name following immediately after that of John Hancock, President of the Congress. In later years Josiah served New Hampshire as Governor and also as United States Senator.
Mr. Bartlett's father is Hon. Myron E. Bartlett, whose father removed from Vermont to Wyoming County, N. Y., in 1824.
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There Myron E. Bartlett was born seven years later. He married Cordelia Elvira McFarlan of Twinsburg, Ohio, where he completed his education in the Twinsburg Institution. Through this union Eugene M. Bartlett was born at Warsaw on March 11th, 1855. In early life, recognizing its educational value, he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Western New Yorker, of which William H. Merrill, later the managing editor of the New York World, was then the proprietor. In after years Mr. Bartlett frequently contributed articles to papers and magazines. He received his education in the Warsaw and Geneseo Academies, and finished in Cornell University, and following his father in the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1880. In the following year he formed a partnership with his father, under the name of M. E. & B. M. Bartlett, which continued until 1896. During its existence the firm was engaged upon one side or the other in nearly every important case in the county. The senior member of the firm was appointed County Judge by Governor Black in 1896.
Eugene M. Bartlett early took a prominent place at the Wyoming County Bar, and also became an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party; the combination of Republican- ism and legal ability resulting in his election of District Attorney of the County in 1887. This office he filled with ability and success, until 1889, declining a re-nomination.
On January 23rd, 1895, Mr. Bartlett married Grace M. Sheldon of Hornellsville, and on June 1st of the following year removed to Buffalo, in order that he might enter upon a wider field in the practice of law. Since his removal to Buffalo, Mr. Bartlett has taken a prominent place at the Erie County Bar, and has been engaged in the trial of some of the most important civil and criminal actions arising in that section of the State.
Mr. Bartlett has been connected with many business enter- prises; he is a member of the New York State Bar Association, of thé Erie County Bar Association, the Lawyers' Club, the Buffalo Historical Society, Cornell Alumni Association, Batavia
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Commandery, Knights Templar; Adytum Chapter, F. & A. M .; Lodge of the Ancient Landmarks, No. 441; Batavia Club, the Buffalo Club, Park Club of Buffalo, and the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
EDWARD EMERSON COATSWORTH, former District Attorney of Erie County, and a noted practitioner at the Buffalo bar, is a lawyer of wide experience and excellent record, and in civic, political and social connections commands the esteem of all who know him.
Mr. Coatsworth is of English ancestry, being a grandson of Thomas Coatsworth, who with his wife, Jane Graham, and other members of the family, came to Buffalo in 1817. In 1830 he purchased thirty acres of land in the South Side of Buffalo, thus becoming one of the principal land-owners of the city. Upon his death this property descended intact to his sons, Caleb and John. .
CALEB COATSWORTH, son of Thomas, was born in England in 1811. When six years old he came with his parents to Buffalo, and was educated in the public schools of that city. In his youth he learned the hatter's trade, later engaging in that business for himself. After the death of their father, Caleb Coatsworth and his brother, John, erected build- ings on the real estate which became theirs by inheritance, and otherwise developed the property. During the later years of his life Caleb Coatsworth retired from mercantile business and devoted himself to the care of his extensive land interests in Buffalo. In politics he was a Democrat, but supported Lincoln during the Civil War.
In 1846 Mr. Coatsworth married Jane Coatsworth, his cousin, who died in 1850. Their only child was a daughter, Frances A., who died in 1883. In 1862 Mr. Coatsworth married again, his wife being Jane Webb, a native of England. The children of . the marriage were Reuben H. and Edward E. Coatsworth. The
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death of Caleb Coatsworth occurred August 10, 1870. Mrs. Coatsworth died January 19, 1899.
Edward Emerson Coatsworth was born in Buffalo November 5, 1866, and was educated in the public schools. Immediately after his graduation he entered upon a course of legal study, beginning as a student and clerk in the law office of Tabor & Sheehan in 1884. January 6, 1888, he was admitted to the bar, and the same year became junior partner in the law firm of Tabor, Sheehan & Coatsworth. In 1890, when John Cunneen became a partner, the firm name being Tabor, Sheehan, Cunneen & Coatsworth, an association which lasted until Mr. Sheehan removed to New York, when the firm of Cunneen & Coatsworthi was formed, continuing until October, 1897. In 1898, the firm of Fisher, Coatsworth & Wende was organized and existed till the death of Mr. Theodore Wende in 1902, when the firm became Fisher, Coatsworth & Wende, being composed of Messrs. Fisher and Coatsworth, Charles Diebold, Jr., Harry N. Kraft and Frederick Wende. This partnership continued until 1903, when the firm of Fisher, Coatsworth, Diebold & Kraft was organized. Mr. Fisher retiring April 5, 1905, the firm became Coatsworth, Diebold & Kraft. Mr. Coatsworth is attorney for the Western Savings Bank, and the Lackawanna National Bank, and his firm is counsel for the receiver of the German Bank. The firm has a large general practice, is widely known and as widely respected.
Mr. Coatsworth has always been a Democrat, and his interest in politics is active. In the fall of 1902 he received the Demo- cratic nomination for District Attorney and was elected by a plurality of 3,600, a very large vote for the Democracy to poll in Erie County. He served as District Attorney for three years, retiring January, 1906. He administered the affairs of the office with ability, fidelity and zeal, and made an admirable record. In January, 1906, Mr. Coatsworth accepted the office of Chairman of the Democratic General Committee to which position he had been elected by an unanimous vote, having the
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support of all factions in the party. He was re-elected to that position in 1907.
Mr. Coatsworth is well known as a lover of aquatic sport. He is a member of the Buffalo Canoe Club, having served as Commodore from 1899 to 1902 and again in 1906, and belongs to the Buffalo Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Buffalo and Ellicott Clubs, a 32d degree Mason, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, a member of Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar; also a member of Buffalo Consistory, Zuleika Grotto, and of the Acacia Club. He is an Episcopalian, and was christened and confirmed in old St. James Church.
June 25th, 1891, Mr. Coatsworth married Emma M. Blacking of Buffalo, daughter of Charles B. and Ella Thomas. The chil- dren of the marriage are: Helen, born April 24, 1892, and Emerson E., born February 15, 1894.
GEORGE JEDIAH LETCHWORTH. In George J. Letch- worth, who passed from this life on the 24th of May, 1887, were blended in equal degree the qualities of the strong, capable man of affairs and the broad-minded philanthropist. Gifted with rare practical abilities, Mr. Letchworth was a man of exceptional power and initiative. From an early period of his life he was identified with large manufacturing enterprises, and he won a distinguished name in the business world. But amid all the activities of his busy career he was ever mindful of the higher meaning of existence. Few men have so well exempli- fied the principles of honor and Christian benevolence. His character was singularly gentle, frank and sincere.
The Letchworth family is of English descent, and the ancestors of the subject of this sketch were well-known resi- dents of Philadelphia and its vicinity, being prominent mem- bers of the Society of Friends. Later representatives of the family removed to Central New York. The parents of George J. Letchworth were Josiah and Ann (Hance) Letchworth, who in the early part of their married life resided at Burlington, N. J. Thence in 1820 they removed to the Black River region
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of Northern New York, settling first at Chaumont, afterward at Brownville. In 1828 Mr. Letchworth removed to Moravia, Cayuga County, and later settled at Sherwood, where he became established in the saddlery business for many years. He finally removed to Auburn, N. Y., where he lived until his death in 1857.
Guided in his principles and conduct by the teachings of the Society of Friends, Josiah Letchworth was a man of consistent Christian life. He was prominent in the anti-slavery move- ment, a leading advocate of temperance reform, and took a keen interest in political affairs so far as they bore on vital necessities of morality and justice.
George Jediah Letchworth was the third son of Josiah Letchworth and was born in Brownville, Jefferson County, N. Y., on the 14th of August, 1827. As a youth he displayed remarkable ingenuity and mechanical skill in the success with which he constructed an apparatus for developing electricity.
When seventeen years of age lie left home to enter the service of Messrs. Hayden & Holnies at Auburn, N. Y., and in 1849 was admitted to partnership, the firm style becoming Hayden, Holmes & Co., and later, Hayden & Letchworth, of which con- cern he continued to be the managing partner for about twenty- two years and up to 1872.
Mr. Letchworth became closely identified with the public life of Auburn. He was among the foremost in all good works, civic, benevolent or religious. During the Civil War he was a prominent member of the Sanitary Commission.
Mr. Letchworth removed to Buffalo in 1876. He came here at the suggestion of his brother, Mr. Josiah Letchworth, with which Mr. George J. Letchworth afterwards became associated as a partner. The firm, widely known as proprietors of the Buffalo Malleable Iron & Steel Works, were also extensively engaged in the manufacture of saddlery hardware. The connection of Mr. Letchworth with the house of Pratt & Letchworth lasted till the close of his life.
The engrossing cares of the great enterprise which he had in
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Oquen .Jellworth
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charge absorbed Mr. Letchworth's time and strength, yet he took a keen interest in the advancement of Buffalo. His benevolent nature found a still larger sphere than before, and he became notably identified with the charities of the City. He was a particularly active member of the Society for the Preven- tion of Cruelty to Children, and was elected its President, an office which he continued to hold till his death in the month of May, 1887, at Manchester, England. His remains rest in the beautiful cemetery of Auburn, the city which he so loved and where he so long resided.
Mr. Letchworth was married on the 21st of August, 1850, at Sherwood, N. Y., to Charlotte Pearl, only daughter of Dr. Denison and Maria (Ogden) Pearl, of Scipio. The children of the union were Ogden P., and Anna M. Letchworth, the latter of whom is since deceased.
OGDEN PEARL LETCHWORTH. One of Buffalo's leading citizens, and a man who stands in the front rank of industrial leaders in this State, is Ogden P. Letchworth. As head of the Pratt & Letchworth Company and other enterprises of national reputation, Mr. Letchworth is widely known as an executive of first-class ability and as a large-minded, sagacious business man who exemplifies the principles of progress and is in the van- guard of the march of modern improvement. Mr. Letchworth is as eminent in citizenship as in the business world.
Ogden Pearl Letchworth was born in Auburn, N. Y., on the 23d of August, 1851. As a boy he attended the public and high schools of his native city, later entering the Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Mass., from which institution he graduated. In the later '60's Mr. Letchworth began his business career, becoming office assistant in his father's saddlery manufac- turing establishment at Auburn, finally being admitted to part- nership in the firm of Hayden, Letchworth & Smith.
In 1876 Mr. Letchworth removed to Buffalo, where he became connected with the well-known firm of Pratt & Letchworth, manufacturers of steel and malleable castings. While in this
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employ he was at different times salesman, stock-keeper, cor- responding clerk, purchasing agent, and general manager, which position he continued to hold till 1886, when, on the death of his father, he became a partner. The copartnership existed till the 1st of January, 1896. The firm was then incorporated under the laws of New York State as the Pratt & Letchworth Company, with a paid-up capital of $300,000, Ogden P. Letch- worth being chosen President and Josiah Letchworth Secretary and Treasurer. The Pratt & Letchworth Company has the prestige of long standing, for its foundation dates from the establishment of the firm of Pratt & Letchworth in 1848. Originally the concern manufactured saddlery and carriage hardware. Later was added the production of malleable iron and steel castings. The concern controls the Buffalo Malleable Iron Works, the Buffalo Steel Foundry, the Malleable Iron Works at Brantford, Ont., and the United Hame Company, of which Mr. Ogden P. Letchworth is also President. The plant at Black Rock covers twenty acres, twelve acres being under roof, and includes about fifty buildings. Some 1,400 persons are employed.
Mr. Letchworth is a loyal citizen of Buffalo, to whose inter- ests he is greatly devoted. Not a holder or seeker of public office, he is so closely identified with the vital interests of the community and the general cause of progress that he is in the genuine meaning of the term a public man. His influence and his substantial support are thrown into the scale of right, liberality and justice in all movements having for their objects the civil, social or intellectual welfare of the city. Generous by nature and with a keen sentiment of sympathy for those less organized charities and is equally noted for private benevo- lence. In politics Mr. Letchworth is a Republican. His ambitions do not lead him to become what is commonly called active along political lines, but he is a firm believer in good government and in the doctrine that public office is a public trust. He has served his party as a member of the Republican League, and is rigidly observant of his duty as a voter and his obligations as an American citizen.
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