USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 16
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Mr. Letchworth is a member and former president of the National Founders' Association, trustee of the Gowanda State Homeopathic Hospital, appointed by Governor Black in 1898, trustee of the Queen City Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Buffalo Historical Society, and the American Scenic and Historic Prevention Society of New York, and belongs to the Buffalo, Park, Ellicott, Country, Buffalo Yacht, and Liberal clubs of this city, the Transportation Club of New York, and the Royal Canadian Yacht Club of Toronto.
On the 18th of June, 1878, Mr. Letchworth was united in marriage to Miss Lanra C. Strong of Buffalo.
WILLIAM LAVERACK, whose death occurred in 1888, was a pioneer merchant of Buffalo and one of the most widely known and successful of our city's representative men in his day. To his memory belongs an honorable page in the annals of those men of enterprise and capability to whose labors are dne the development of Buffalo from a provincial town to a large commercial city.
The family from which Mr. Laverack was descended was of Scotch origin, having removed from. Scotland to Yorkshire, England, many generations ago. Edward Laverack, the father of William Laverack, was a ship owner and timber merchant of Hull, who imported ship and building timber from the Baltic region.
William Laverack was born in Hull, England, in 1815. He followed his father's business until he was eighteen years old, when he came to this country, landing in New York City. He soon went to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he entered the employ of Theodore Pomeroy, a manufacturer of carpets and woolens. Mr. Laverack came to Buffalo in the spring of 1833, entering the drug store of Robert Hollister, which was located at the Southeast corner of Seneca and Main streets. He formed a partnership with Mr. Hollister under the firm name of Hollister & Laverack. The association, which was very prosperous, existed till 1864, when Mr. Hollister retired and
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Mr. Laverack admitted as partners his two sons, William A. and George E. Laverack, under the style of Wm. Laverack & Co. This firm continued until 1877, when William A. Laverack died. In 1884 Joseph L. Hunsicker became connected with the business. Upon the death of William Laverack in 1888, the firm was dissolved, Mr. Hunsicker withdrawing.
In the early days of the firm its business was almost wholly in the West, and some reminiscences of the time give an inter- esting picture of how commerce was carried on in the '40's. On the 2d of January in each year Mr. Laverack would start on a horseback tour, settling up accounts of the previous year and journeying as far West as Chicago, the trip occupying three months. These horseback journeys continued till 1850. In 1854 the store at Main and Seneca streets was rebuilt, and Mr. Hollister established there the Hollister Bank. The drug and grocery business being removed to No. 230 Washington street, where it has been conducted for half a century.
A man of quiet habits and domestic tastes, as a general rule he divided his time between his store and his home. But when it was proposed to erect the first headquarters of the recently organized Buffalo Club at No. 210 Delaware avenue, next to his residence, he became a charter member of the Club. He also was actively concerned in various institutions for the further- ance of education, culture and benevolence, and held life memberships in the Buffalo Historical Society, the Fine Arts Academy and the Society of Natural Sciences. He was also a zealous member and a liberal supporter of the Young Men's Association.
William Laverack was a man of high principle and strong religious belief. He was one of the organizers of Trinity Parish in 1836, and served as Vestryman and Warden of the church for a great many years.
In 1840 Mr. Laverack married Mary Radcliffe, daughter of Jerry Radcliffe and Ariadne Webster, and was the sister of Mrs. Robert Hollister and Mrs. Walter Jay. Mrs. Laverack died in 1877. The children of the union now surviving are
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George E. Laverack and Mary A., now the wife of Dr. H. C. Frost.
Few lives have so well exemplified as did that of William Laverack the qualities of the capable business man, the con- scientious citizen and the consistent Christian. A man without pretense or display, his existence moved in a current which, though serene, was strong and steady and which brought abundant benefits to his fellow-men. His was a well-rounded character, true to itself and to principle. His life was one of pre-eminent usefulness and his death was felt as a severe loss to the community with whose growth and prosperity his career had been so closely identified.
GEORGE EDWARD LAVERACK. Among Buffalonians of our day who have attained a prominent place in the world of business and the sphere of citizenship, one of the most noteworthy is George E. Laverack. Mr. Laverack was for many years identified with the wholesale drug and gro- cery business. During his active career Mr. Lave- rack was connected with other extensive interests, notably in transportation and banking affairs. He is well known in social life, and is an earnest supporter of movements in aid of civic and general improvement.
Mr. Laverack was born in Buffalo on the 10th of GEORGE LAVERACK. October, 1845, and is a son of the late William Laverack. In
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1864, when only nineteen, he became his father's partner in the wholesale drug and grocery trade. He remained continuously with his father until the latter's death, and for several years previous had practically the entire charge of the business. On the death of the elder Mr. Laverack in 1888, George E. Laverack bought the interest of J. L. Hunsicker as well as that of the Laverack estate, and became sole proprietor, and conducted the business- until 1900. During the years of his control he developed the business greatly, making it one of the largest houses in its line between New York and Chicago, being known throughout New York State, the Middle West and Penn- sylvania.
Meantime Mr. Laverack became identified with transporta- tion affairs. In 1877 he was elected a Director of the Western Transportation Company and served until that corporation passed over to the New York Central Railroad in 1883. He was also a Director in the old American Exchange Bank.
Mr. Laverack has been for many years an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and its predecessor, the Merchants' Exchange. He is a life member of the Buffalo Historical Society, the Fine Arts Academy and the Society of Natural Sciences. He is well-known in the Masonic fraternity, being affiliated with Ancient Landmarks Lodge of Masons and Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a member of the Buffalo Club, and was one of the founders of the Country Club, of which he served as President during the first three years of its existence. Like his father, Mr. Laverack was a Volunteer Fireman, serving with Taylor Hose Company for eight years. Since childhood he has been a member of Trinity Church.
On the 5th of September, 1871, Mr. Laverack married Miss Mary Rumrill, daughter of Levi H. Rumrill and Frances (Tweedy) Rumrill. The children of the union are Belle Rad- cliffe Laverack; Gertrude, now the wife of Andrew N. Winslow of Boston; Howard Cowing Laverack; William Harold Laverack, and Miss Jean Laverack.
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ROBERT KEATING. To that representative business man and citizen, Robert Keating, two provinces of enterprise have afforded the opportunities of success. In the earlier part of Mr. Keating's long residence in Buffalo he won distinction and acquired wealth in manufactures. At the present time he devotes himself to his important banking interests.
Robert Keating is a native of Ireland. The family to which he belongs lived for generations in County Carlow, near Dublin, and later in the County of Wexford. Tradition says that the Keatings originally came to Ireland from France.
Robert Keating, the father of Robert Keating of Buffalo, was a resident of the County of Wexford, where he was well- known as a land-owner and as the agent of a large estate. In 1827 he married Eleanor Langford, who, like her husband, was a member of the Church of England, and belonged to a very old Irish family.
Robert Keating, the subject of the present sketch, was born in County Wexford on the 30th of September, 1834. He was educated at public and private schools. In 1854 he came to America to visit his brother, George Keating, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. Keating liked this country so well that he decided to remain here. In less than a year after his arrival he came to Buffalo and entered the employ of Jewett & Root, stove manu- facturers. With that firm he remained about eleven years. He rose to the positions of cashier and buyer, and in 1866 formed a partnership with Henry C. Jewett, son of S. S. Jewett, in the tannery business. The enterprise was very successful, having plants in Olean, N. Y., and in Port Allegany, Pa. With this industry Mr. Keating was connected until 1892, when the business was sold to the leather trust. Thereafter Mr. Keating retired from manufacturing, and has since devoted his time to banking, being identified with some of the most important financial institutions in Buffalo. Since 1866 he has served as a Director of the Third National Bank; is Secretary of the Standard Savings & Loan Association, and has been Vice-
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President and trustee of the Buffalo Savings Bank since 1894.
He is a trustee of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum and for twenty-five years served as a trustee of the Buffalo General Hospital. He is a life member of the Young Men's Association, and the Fine Arts Academy, and belongs to the Historical Society. He is President of the Board of Trustees of the Dela- ware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a member of the board ever since its organization thirty-five years ago.
In 1858 Mr. Keating married Caroline W. Root, daughter of Francis H. Root. The only surviving child of the union is Robert Keating Root, who was adopted by Francis H. Root. who wished an heir to perpetuate the family name. Mrs. Keating died in 1866. In 1868 Mr. Keating married a second time, his wife being Anna J. Putnam, a daughter of the late Hon. James O. Putnam. The children of the marriage are: George P. Keating; Jeannette P. Keating, now Mrs. Roger C. Adams, and Harriett Keating.
AUGUST CARL ESENWEIN, senior member of the firm of Esenwein & Johnson, as an architect and designer stands in the front rank of his profession.
Mr. Esenwein comes of a German house of great antiquity, the Esenwein family, which belonged to the knightly order, having lived for more than 500 years on its ancestral estates called Esenwein-Virnsberg, in the Kingdom of Wuertemburg, South Germany. The last of the race to use the antique von Esenwein-Virnsberg name was Carl August Esenwein-Virns- berg, grandfather of August Carl Esenwein of Buffalo. His only son was August Carl Esenwein, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in 1819, and as a young man lived on the family estate. In 1861 he came to America, and after spending ten years in this country, returned to Germany, where he died in 1869. He married Caroline Glessing of Weinsberg, who died in Vienna in 1884.
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August Carl Esenwein was born November 7, 1856, at Esen- wein-Virnsberg, near Weinsberg, in Wuertemburg, Germany. His rudimentary education was obtained at private schools, and later he entered the Gymnasium at Stuttgart, and was there prepared for the University of Stuttgart. In 1874 he became a student in the Stuttgart Polytechnic University, where he remained for five years, also serving a year in the German army. While at Stuttgart he pursued courses in architecture and engineering, graduating in 1879. He then went to Paris, where for two years he worked in an architect's studio as a draughtsman.
In 1880 Mr. Esenwein came to America, and settled in Buffalo, where he first found employment as a draughtsman, afterward spending two years in the engineering office of the Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad. While there he won the first prize for a design for the first Music Hall, which was built under his supervision. On leaving the employ of the railroad he began the practice of his profession for himself, and seven years ago formed a partnership with John Addison Johnson, with whom he has ever since been associated. Among the buildings designed by Mr. Esenwein are the Buffalo Public Library, the Gowanda State Hospital, the Iroquois Hotel, as remodeled, the Tower Hotel at Niagara Falls, the Gluck office building and the German-American Brewery and Hall. The firm of Esenwein & Johnson designed the Temple of Music, the Administration Building and Alt Nurnberg at the Pan- American, the Providence Retreat, the West Side and Lafayette High Schools, the Statler and Touraine Hotels, six Buffalo grammar-schools, some of the Buffalo State Hospital buildings, the Saturn Club, the Teck Theater and Cafe, St. Agnes Church in East Buffalo, and many fine residences. In the erection of the fireproof store building at Main and Mohawk streets, Buffalo, in 120 days, the firm made a world's record for a building of this size and construction.
Mr. Esenwein is a member of the American Institute of
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Architects, the Buffalo Chapter of Architects, and the Buffalo Society of Artists. He belongs to the Historical Society, the German Young Men's Association; is a life member of the Turn Verein and of the Buffalo Library, and a member of the Buffalo Orpheus, and is also a member of the Buffalo, Ellicott, Park and Country clubs. He is a 32d degree Mason, and belongs to Ancient Landmarks Lodge, F. & A. M., and to Buffalo Consistory.
In May, 1892, Mr. Esenwein married Katherine Haberstro, daughter of Philip L. Haberstro and Barbara Scheu of Buffalo. The issue of the union is one child, August Carl, born July 28, 1906.
CHARLES RUSSELL HUNTLEY, President of the Buffalo General Electric Company, is one of Buffalo's leading business men and in the field of electricity applied to industrial and commercial uses, ranks among the foremost men of the time.
Mr. Huntley is of English and Puritan lineage. The immi- grant ancestor came from England to the Colonies during the Puritan emigration and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His eldest son was James Huntley, who settled in Exeter, Otsego County, N. Y. His eldest son was Phineas Huntley, who was a farmer in Exeter, and whose sons were James, Charles, Elisha, Lester, Orrin, Porter, and Loren.
James Huntley, son of Phineas, was, like his father, a farmer. In 1850 he retired from farming and removed to the town of West Winfield, Herkimer County, N. Y., where he died in March, 1879. He was a Major in the State militia and a Justice of the Peace of the town of Exeter. He was survived by his sons, Russell, James, Alonzo, George, Porter, and Carlos.
Russell Huntley, son of James Huntley and father of Charles R. 'Huntley of Buffalo, was born in West Exeter, N. Y., January 10th, 1818. He began life as a farm boy, taught school, and later became a merchant in Durhamville, Oneida County. Afterward he removed to West Winfield, Herkimer County,
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where for many years he kept a general store. Later he removed to Ilion, N. Y., a year afterward going to Utica, N. Y., where he engaged in a mercantile business. At the close of the Civil War he went to Newberne, North Carolina, where he carried on business until 1867, when he returned to Ilion and engaged in the hardware trade. He died January 4, 1901. The wife of Russell Huntley was Clorinda Talbot, who was born in Manlius, Onondaga County, in this State, and who died in 1898.
Charles Russell Huntley was born in West Winfield, Herkimer County, N. Y., October 12th, 1854. Until fifteen years old he attended public schools. He assisted his father in business until twenty years of age. He then entered the employment of the Remington Arms Company of Ilion, N. Y., for three years, when he entered the employ of the Standard Oil Company, at Bradford, Pa., afterward becoming the company's agent in that city, until 1883, when he resigned and went into the brokerage business in Bradford, remaining there till 1888. In that year he came to Buffalo as Secretary and General Manager of the Brush Electric Light Company, which positions he held until 1903, when the Brush and other com- panies were merged into the Buffalo General Electric Company, of which Mr. Huntley became Vice-President, and General Manager, and later President and General Manager, offices which he now holds. He is also Vice-President and General Manager of the Cataract Power and Conduit Company; Presi- dent of the Cataract Electric Supply Company, and President of the Niagara Tachometer Company and of the Ramapo Iron Works. He is a Director of the Western New York Water Company and of the International Acheson Graphite Company; Treasurer of the Niagara Falls Electric Light & Power Com- pany, and a Director of the George Urban Milling Company. He is Vice-President of the People's Bank, a Director of the Ger- man-American Bank, and is interested in the Mexico & Orient Railroad.
In politics Mr. Huntley was formerly a Democrat, but in
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1896, when the Democratic party advocated the free coinage of silver, he became a Republican. While in Bradford, Mr. Huntley served one term as Select Councilman. He was twice elected a member of the Bradford Board of School Control, serving two years. He was appointed Park Commissioner of Buffalo by Mayor Jewett, serving three years.
When the late John M. Brinker first projected the Pan- American Exposition, Mr. Huntley was made one of the original Board of Directors and later served as a Director and a member of the Executive Committee. In 1905 he was Commis- sioner of the State of New York to the Lewis & Clark Expo- sition at Portland, Oregon. In 1890 Mr. Huntley was elected President of the National Electric Light Association, a body composed of 800 members and representing vast electrical interests throughout the United States. A sequel to this event was the assembling of the Association's Annual Convention in Buffalo in 1892. Mr. Huntley is a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and frequently contributes to electrical journals. He is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce, and belongs to the Buffalo, Ellicott and Country clubs, in all of which he has served as Director. He is also connected with the Republican Club of New York City. He is a 32d degree Mason, and a member of Ancient Landmarks Lodge. In religion he is of the Episcopal faith, and attends the Church of the Ascension.
In June, 1878, Mr. Huntley married Miss Ida Richardson, a daughter of William and Ann (O'Day) Richardson. The chil- dren of this union are: William Russell, now Assistant General Manager of the Buffalo General Electric Company; Walter Wood, who is engaged in the electrical business in Buffalo; Mary, now Mrs. Robert W. Chapin, and Robert Richardson.
JOHN NEWTON SCATCHERD. No man is more strongly identified than John N. Scatcherd with the business, civic, and social life of Buffalo. The English family of Scatcherds, from
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whom John N. Scatcherd is descended, is of Yorkshire stock, the lineage dating back to feudal times. Thomas Scatcherd, the great-grandfather of John N. Scatcherd, was born in Beverly, near Hull, England, in 1750. He was one of the great merchants of Hull, and a leading supporter of the famous English philanthropist and reformer, William Wilberforce. John Scatcherd, son of Thomas Scatcherd, was born at Beverly, Yorkshire, in 1800. In 1821 he sailed for America. After arriving in Canada he went to Little York, now Toronto; later he removed to Nissouri, the site of the present city of London. He became a leading citizen of that section and served in the Canadian Parliament many years.
JAMES NEWTON SCATCHERD, son of John Scatcherd, was born at Wyton, Ont., December 4, 1824, and passed his youth upon his father's farm. His education was gained at the common schools. Lumbering was an important industry of the neighborhood, and the young man soon entered that business. In the spring of 1852 he located in Buffalo, as the agent of Farmer, de Blaquiere & Deeds, lumber manufacturers, dealers and shippers at Woodstock and other points in Upper Canada. In 1857 he succeeded to the Buffalo branch of the business, which he continued with signal success, being up to the time of his death one of the principal lumber dealers of the United States. In 1879, his son, John N. Scatcherd, was admitted to partnership, the firm being thenceforth known as Scatcherd & Son. The specialty of the business was the expensive hard woods.
Mr. Scatcherd was connected with various Buffalo business organizations and projects. In the autumn of 1884 he was elected Vice-President of the Third National Bank, and was also a stockholder in several of the local banks.
The only public office ever held by Mr. Scatcherd was that of Chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners for four years.
Mr. Scatcherd married November 7, 1855, Miss Annie Belton
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of Fairfield, Canada. He died January 18, 1885. He is survived by his son, John N. Scatcherd, and by a daughter, Mrs. Seward Cary.
Mr. Scatcherd was one of the founders and a trustee of the Delaware avenue M. E. Church. He was a liberal contributor to charity; and the Buffalo General Hospital especially profited exceedingly by his benevolence.
John Newton Scatchherd, son of James Newton Scatcherd, was born in Buffalo September 12th, 1857. His education was obtained in the public schools, Prof. Briggs' Classical School, and Hellmuth College in London, Ontario, graduating in 1872. After leaving college Mr. Scatcherd became con- nected with Scatcherd & Belton, remaining until 1879, when he was taken into partnership, the firm becoming Scatcherd & Son.
The firm is one of the largest hardwood lumber concerns in the country. Mr. Scatcherd is Presi- dent of the Batavia-New York Woodworking Com- pany, whose plant is at Batavia, N. Y. From 1892 to 1896 he was President of the Bank of Buffalo, and is yet a Director. He is also Director of the Third National Bank, the JOHN N. SCATCHIERD. Buffalo Loan & Trust & Safety Deposit Company. He was one of the projectors of the Ellicott Square Company, and acted as its President from 1894 to 1906, being now its Vice-President, and one of its Directors.
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He was formerly a Director of the Buffalo Railway Company, and has since served as a Director of the International Railway Company. He is also a Director of the Buffalo, Lake Erie and Niagara Railroad, and is a Director and one of the promoters of the proposed Buffalo, Rochester & Eastern Railroad.
From 1886 to 1888 Mr. Scatcherd was President of the Buffalo Lumber Exchange, and for two years was President of the Merchants' Exchange. When the Pan-American Exposition Company was organized in 1899 Mr. Scatcherd was elected a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of its Execu- tive Committee. The committee was given the entire manage- ment of the Pan-American enterprise, except in the question of finance. For the two years, 1900-1901, Mr. Scatcherd gave prac- tically all his time to the work. The task was enormous, and was ably and successfully performed.
Mr. Scatcherd is one of the most prominent Republicans of Erie County. Elected President of the Buffalo Republican League, he held the office two years, afterward serving another year. He also served seven years as member of the Republican State Committee for Erie County. During this period Mr. Scatcherd was the official leader of the Republican party in Erie County, a position which he filled with rare tact and ability. In 1897 he received the Republican nomination for Mayor, but that year the whole Democratic ticket was elected.
Mr. Scatcherd occupies a distinguished social position. He is a member of the Buffalo, Country, Ellicott, and Park clubs, and belongs to the Tennessee Club of Memphis, and the New York and Republican clubs of New York City. He is a member of the Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and has also served as its trustee. For some years Mr. Scatcherd was a trustee of the Buffalo General Hospital. He is a member of the Fine Arts Academy.
September 9th, 1879, Mr. Scatcherd married Mary Eunice Wood, granddaughter of the late O. G. Steele of Buffalo. Their children are a daughter, Madeline Steele Scatcherd, and a son, James Newton Scatcherd.
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HIRAM WALTZ, of the live-stock commission firm of Swope, Hughes, Waltz & Benstead, is known throughout the country as the controller of immense live stock interests in East Buffalo and Cleveland, and not only stands in the foremost rank of Buffalo business men, but is one of the leading business men of the United States. Mr. Waltz is of Swiss ancestry, being descended from an ancient family. In the twelfth century the name Waltzer was ap- plied to a small com- munity of farmers who sought refuge from Gothic dominion in a mountain valley of the Alpine range, near the Rhine Glacier. These people have a well defined place in the annals of Switzer- land, being referred to by at least three Swiss his- torians.
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