USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 18
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Nowhere in Buffalo will Mr. Bennett be better known or longer remembered than in the Central Park district. He is the founder of this important section of the city, whose develop- ment he began in 1889, the work taking nearly four years and costing nearly $300,000 in improvements alone. Only a man with clear business judgment added to strong faith in the future of Buffalo could have carried such a comprehensive project to successful completion.
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Mr. Bennett has been a steadfast Republican since the days of Fremont, for whom he voted for President. He was Canal Collector at Fultonville, N. Y., in 1861-62, and in 1865 he repre- sented the town of Glen in the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. In his religious faith Mr. Bennett is a Univer- salist, and he has long been a Mason, being affiliated with Fultonville Lodge, No. 531, F. & A. M., Johnstown Chapter, No. 78 and Apollo Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar of Troy. He is a member of the Buffalo Historical Society and the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, serves on the managing boards of both those bodies, and belongs to Buffalo Chapter, Empire State Society, Sons of the American Revolution.
October 6, 1857, Mr. Bennett married Mary F. Spalding, daughter of Andrew Spalding of Johnstown, N. Y. Their sur- viving children are: Leslie J. Bennett, Vice-President, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer of the Buffalo Cement Company, and Louisa A., widow of the late James P. Wood, who was identified with the same company as Vice-President and Treasurer.
Mr. Bennett has ever lived an active life, devoted to business, to his family and to the welfare of the community. His busi- ness career has been varied by only one vacation of any note, this being taken in 1894-95, when he made a tour of the world, chronicling his impressions in a series of letters, which have been published.
HENRY J. PIERCE, President of the International Railway Company, is identified with electric railroad enterprises in Buffalo and elsewhere, and is besides connected with important undertakings in the fields of finance, manufacture and general business. In electric transportation matters Mr. Pierce is fav- orably known both as an organizer and executive head. In other phases of business he has been equally successful in initiative and management. He has always taken an active interest in the advancement of Buffalo, and has borne a leading part in many projects having for their aim the municipal
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welfare and especially the commercial and industrial progress of the city.
Mr. Pierce was born in Bath, Maine, August 29th, 1857. In 1876 he came to Buffalo and in 1882 established the Wood Products Company, refiners of wood alcohol, whose plant is situated at the foot of Pennsylvania street. Mr. Pierce is President of the company, which is one of the largest enter- prises in Buffalo, refining about 80 per cent. of the entire wood alcohol product of the United States. The enterprise has branch concerns in different parts of the country, but its prin- cipal plant and offices are located in this city. Mr. Pierce was one of the organizers of the Buffalo & Niagara Falls and of the Buffalo & Lockport electric railroads, and served as a Director of the International Railway Company from the time the latter corporation was formed, and in 1905 became its President. The International Railway Company was organized under the laws of this State in February, 1902, for the object of acquiring and combining the street railway lines in Buffalo with the lines extending to and into Niagara Falls, Lockport, Olcott and Onawanda, including the lines on the Canadian side of the Niagara River at Niagara Falls, and the bridges connecting the trolley lines. Numerous and valuable properties were included in this consolidation. The united length of the lines of the International Railway Company is about 360 miles. The company has three power houses, about 970 cars, and a com- plete modern equipment in all departments. It gives employ- ment to over 2,000 persons. The contract between the com- pany and the City of Buffalo provides that when the gross receipts of the electric railway corporation reach $2,000,000 it shall pay 3 per cent. of the amount to the city-a provision which has been the means of realizing heavy sums to the municipality of Buffalo. A foreign electric railroad company of which Mr. Pierce is also President, is the Netherlands Tram- ways Corporation, which owns a system of electric railways in Holland. Mr. Pierce is a Director of the Marine National Bank
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and of the Security Safe Deposit Company of Buffalo; also a Director of the Lumber Insurance Company of New York City, and of J. G. White & Company, New York City. He was one of the Directors of the Pan-American Exposition, also serving on the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the Conces- sions Committee. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and in 1905 was elected President of that body. During Mr. Pierce's term of office, work on the new Chamber of Commerce Building was begun.
In the club life of Buffalo Mr. Pierce is well-known. He belongs to the Buffalo, Saturn, Ellicott and Country clubs, and in 1900 was elected President of the Buffalo Club.
EDWARD HOWARD HUTCHINSON, real estate man and capitalist, occupies a prominent place among Buffalo's business men.
Mr. Hutchinson comes of the New England family of that name whose descent is derived from Bernard Hutchinson of Cowland, Yorkshire, England, a knight in the time of King Edward I., later representatives of the family being Col. John Hutchinson, the Lieutenant of Oliver Cromwell, and Lord Hutchinson, who in 1801 defeated the French army in Egypt. William Hutchinson, who came to Massachusetts in 1634, was one of the founders of Portsmouth and Newport. The Buffalo branch of the family traces its descent from Daniel, son of Elisha and Eunice Hutchinson, who was born in Lebanon, Conn., November 22, 1767, and who married Susannah Treep. John Hutchinson, son of Daniel, was born October 28, 1792, came in 1815 to Williamsville, Erie County, where he engaged in the tannery business, and died August 28, 1865. In 1818 he married Harriett Martin, their children being John M. and Helen.
JOHN M. HUTCHINSON was born in Williamsville, Erie County, N. Y., March 25, 1820. In 1838 he came to Buffalo,
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where he engaged in the leather business till 1867, from then until his death devoting himself to his real estate investments and other interests. He was a Director of the Marine Bank, the Suspension Bridge Co., at Niagara Falls, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. Mr. Hutchinson was a strong Democrat, and was frequently chosen for offices of trust. In 1881, Mayor Brush appointed him one of the Fire Commission- ers, and in 1885 he was reappointed by Mayor Scoville. He was one of the trustees of the City and County Hall, a member of the Board of Managers of the State Asylum for the Insane, and a trustee of Buffalo City Cemetery. He was formerly President of the Young Men's Association, and one of its real estate com- missioners. He was also a promoter of the Buffalo Driving Park Association. November 13, 1850, he became a charter member of Taylor Hose Company, No. 1, and served with that company until 1857.
In January, 1851, Mr. Hutchinson married Eunice A. Howard, sister of Gen. R. L. Howard. Mrs. Hutchinson died in 1852. The only child of the marriage was Edward Howard Hutchinson.
John Martin Hutchinson died August 17, 1886. He was a man who left a permanent and beneficial impress on the business and civic life of Buffalo. He was charitable and a generous giver.
Edward Howard Hutchinson was born in Buffalo March 7, 1852. He received his education in Public School No. 10, and in Central High School of that city. While preparing to enter Harvard University, his studies were interrupted by failing eyesight. In 1870 Mr. Hutchinson became a partner in the firm of L. W. Drake & Co., wholesale and retail provision dealers in Elk street market. In 1875 the firm's packing house in East Buffalo was burned, and the partnership dissolved. In the fall of 1875 Mr. Hutchinson founded the first newspaper advertising agency ever established in Buffalo. In 1877 a printing depart- ment was added and the business was continued successfully
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for eighteen years. In the meantime Mr. Hutchinson had invested largely in Buffalo real estate, which he improved by the erection of some of the most important structures in Buffalo. In 1887 he built the well-known business block called "The Hutchinson," consisting of four stores and twelve flats. In 1889 he erected " The Strathmere " at Main and Carleton streets. Mr. Hutchinson is a Director of the Marine National Bank, is President of the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo City Cemetery (Forest Lawn), and Chairman of the Finance Com- mittee of the Vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He was formerly a member of the Board of Managers of the Church Charity Foundation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Buffalo, and in 1895, in memory of his parents, he erected and presented to the Church Charity Foundation the Hutchinson Memorial Chapel.
Mr. Hutchinson is a Democrat, and in 1887 his party nomi- nated him for Alderman in the former Tenth Ward. This was then the strongest Republican Ward in Buffalo, yet Mr. Hutchinson was elected, running nearly 1,000 votes ahead of his ticket. Mayor Charles F. Bishop appointed him a Fire Commissioner in 1891, and in 1900 he was appointed by Mayor Diehl a member of the first Union Station Commission, serving two years, and after his reappointment by Mayor Knight, still another year.
September 25, 1872, Mr. Hutchinson married Jeanie Blanche Ganson of Buffalo.
Mr. Hutchinson is an honorary member of the Exempt and Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Associations; a life member of the Buffalo Historical Society, the Buffalo Library and the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, and a member of the Church Home League and the Y. M. C. A. He is a life member of Ancient Landmarks Lodge, No. 441, F. & A. M .; Adytum Chapter, No. 235, R. A. M .; Keystone Council, No. 20, R. & S. M .; Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 30, K. T .; Ismailia Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and of the Associate Society of Chapin Post, No. 2, G. A. R.
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6. M. Fianor
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Personally Mr. Hutchinson is of a retiring disposition, but exceedingly energetic and very positive in his opinions. He has legions of friends, and is at all times ready to assist in advancing the interests of Buffalo.
CHILION M. FARRAR, who died on the 17th of April, 1907, was one of Buffalo's most highly esteemed citizens. During the more than fifty years of his residence in Buffalo, Mr. Farrar was prominently identified with the iron industry, and as head of the firm of Farrar, Trefts & Knight, and later that of Farrar & Trefts, he was one of the recognized industrial leaders of the community. Mr. Farrar was a fine type of the American business man, characterized by vigor and concentration of pur- pose, strong practical acumen, and rugged integrity.
Mr. Farrar was born in Detroit, Mich., in 1829. He was educated in his native city and there he spent his youth and a portion of his early manhood. When seventeen years old he came to Buffalo and entered the old Shepard Iron Works, now known as the King Iron Works, and gained a thorough tech- nical training as a machinist. He was soon advanced to the position of Superintendent, which he held for several years.
In 1870, in association with the late John Trefts and Theodore C. Knight, father of ex-Mayor Erastus C. Knight, Mr. Farrar founded the firm of Farrar, Trefts & Knight. Shortly after- ward Mr. Knight retired from the business, and the concern was thereafter known as Farrar & Trefts. Mr. Trefts died about six years ago, his son, George M. Trefts, succeeding to his interest in the business. The firm of Farrar & Trefts prospered from the outset, and in the progress of time became one of the representative iron manufacturing industries of Buffalo, occupying the foremost place in its special field, that. of the manufacture of steam engines, boilers and machinery. Mr. Farrar was the patentee of an engine which proved of great value to those engaged in the oil business, and Farrar & Trefts constructed nearly all the engines used in the development of
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the Pennsylvania oil fields twenty years ago. Within the few years preceding his death, Mr. Farrar advanced the firm to a place which has been aptly described as "one of the highest positions possible in the iron industry in this country," and his far-sighted and progressive management showed its fruits in the steady extension of the enterprise and the development of a very large domestic and foreign trade.
Mr. Farrar was a prominent Mason, and at the time of his death was Treasurer of Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M., an office he held for twenty-five years; he was also a Past-Master of the lodge, and filled other positions of trust and responsibility in the Masonic order. He was a member of the Buffalo Club, and took an active interest in that organization.
In 1845 Mr. Farrar was married to Almira Siver of Buffalo. He is survived by his wife and one daughter.
Mr. Farrar was in eminent degree a man of practical philan- thropy. He made no boast of his generosity, and even those who were close in his confidence did not know the number and value of his benefactions. But his gifts were many and liberal, and were inspired by a genuine sentiment of love for his fellow- men, a spirit of helpfulness for all worthy causes, and a true sympathy with the needy and unfortunate. Devoted to his family, a loving husband and father, his domestic life was happy and he found his deepest joys in the home circle. His death was an inestimable loss to the community, and his virtues elicited many tributes from which we quote the following editorial utterance from a leading Buffalo paper:
" Mr. Farrar was an industrial leader, never a seeker for public honors, always on the side of honesty and justice in civic affairs, a good citizen, a kindly, estimable man. 'You could not put your finger on an act of his life that would not bear inspection,' said one who knew him. An honorable, well- ordered life like this is an answer to much current pessimism. Death reveals what is overlooked in life. Such men as Mr. Farrar exert an influence for good that lives after them, and the world is better for their living in it."
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ALBERT JOEL WHEELER, President of the Western Savings Bank, is one of the leading business men of Buffalo, and has for many years been prominent in elevator and malting industries.
The Wheeler family came from England during the early Colonial period, first settling in Connecticut, and later at Smithtown, L. I. Wickham Wheeler, great-grandfather of Albert J. Wheeler, was born at Smithtown in 1740, and was a farmer. His son, Ebenezer, was born at Smithtown in 1776. and spent the last twenty years of his life in Buffalo, where he died in 1857. He married Susan Gehrard, who was born in France and who died in Buffalo in 1853. Joel Wheeler, the father of Albert Joel Wheeler, was born in Smithtown, L. I., in 1814, and died May 7, 1892. Coming to Buffalo in 1832, he engaged in the provision trade, and also in the manufacture of soap. Afterward he carried on a grain commission business, and later became connected with the elevating and malting business, taking his son into partnership. For fourteen years prior to his death, Joel Wheeler was President of the Western Savings Bank. During the early '60's he served several terms as Alderman from the old Second Ward. In 1840 he married Mary Jane McElvaney, who was born in Orange County, N. Y., in 1821, and was a daughter of Charles and Catharine McElvaney. The McElvaney family came to this country from the north of Ireland about 1800. Mrs. Wheeler died in Buffalo June 22, 1905. The children of Joel Wheeler were twin brother and sister, Albert J. and Mary Frances.
Albert Joel Wheeler was born in Buffalo August 3, 1841. He received his early education at the public schools, afterward graduating from W. S. Smith's Military High School. When nineteen years old he entered his father's office on the old Central Wharf, and in 1864, in partnership with his father, embarked in the elevating business. Purchasing the old Wells Elevator on the "Island," the firm built an extension, re-christened the elevator "The Wheeler," and did a general
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grain elevating business. When the elevator was destroyed by fire in 1888, a new one was erected on the same site. This too was burned, in 1906. The Ontario Elevator on the Evans Ship Canal was built by the Wheelers in 1888. It was burned in October, 1904, and was replaced by the Monarch Elevator, a splendid structure made of concrete and steel, and having a capacity of 600,000 bushels. In 1870 Messrs. Wheeler estab- lished a malting business, in Perry street, Buffalo, where they built a plant which has ever since been in operation. Both the grain elevating and the malting enterprises were attended with great success. After the death of his father, Albert J. Wheeler continued to conduct the business which they had controlled in common, upon the same lines which their joint experience had tried and approved. In 1892 Mr. Wheeler was elected a trustee of the Western Savings Bank, in 1896 was chosen its President, and has ever since remained the head of the insti- tution, which is one of the oldest and most reliable of its kind in Western New York. When the German Bank failed in December, 1904, Mr. Wheeler was selected by the Attorney General as the Receiver of the defunct bank. He closed up its affairs in such a skillful and careful manner that the depositors received a much greater proportion of their money than was at first thought possible.
Mr. Wheeler is a member of the Buffalo Chamber of Com- merce, and has served as one of its trustees. He has been a member of Ancient Landmarks Lodge, F. & A. M., for the last forty years. He is a member of the Delaware Avenue Metho- dist Episcopal Church, the Young Men's Association, and the Buffalo Club.
In September, 1864, Mr. Wheeler married Catharine Clinton, a daughter of Judge George W. Clinton, and sister of George and Spencer Clinton. Mrs. Wheeler died in January, 1881, leaving three children, George Clinton, Joel Howard, who died in 1893, and Mabel. June 3, 1888, Mr. Wheeler married his second wife, Kate R. Barton, daughter of Peter Porter Barton
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and Mary C. Whitney of Lewiston, N. Y. The children of the union are two daughters, Mary and Catharine Barton.
CHARLES GAD WORTHINGTON, senior member of the insurance firm of Worthington & Sill, is one of the best-known men in Western New York in his field, having been for forty years prominently connected with fire and marine insurance interests in Buffalo.
The Worthington family is of ancient English lineage. The founder of its American branch was Nicholas Worthington, a landowner who lived near Liverpool, England, and fought in the Cromwellian wars. Later he came to New England, settling at Saybrook, Conn., in 1649, and afterward removing to Hartford. He died September 6, 1683. His son, William, was born in 1670, lived in Hartford, Conn., and about 1717 removed to Colchester, Conn., where he died in 1753. He was the father of Elijah Worthington, who was born in Hartford in 1710, lived in Colchester, Conn., where he married Mary Welles, and died in 1764. His son, Capt. Dan Worthington, was born June 11, 1749. He resided in Colchester, Conn., and afterward in Lenox, Mass., where he died October 24, 1821. He married in 1771 Lois Foote. Gad Worthington, son of Capt. Dan Worthington, was born in Lenox, Mass., May 28, 1786. In early life he was a merchant in Lenox, whence he removed as a young man to Batavia, Genesee County, N. Y., where he con- tinued to follow mercantile pursuits until his death, March 10, 1861. In 1812 he married Fannie Belden of Lenox, Mass. Their children were: Dan Leander, Gad Belden, Samuel K., John, Robert, Fannie, and Mary Ann.
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DAN L. WORTHINGTON, father of Charles Gad Worthing- ton, was born at Lenox, Mass., August 14, 1813, and was educated in the public schools. In early manhood he removed to East Bethany, Genesee County, N. Y., where he established a general mercantile business, which he conducted for sixty
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years. He was a prominent Republican, was one of the Supervisors of Genesee County, and was Postmaster at East Bethany for over thirty years. Like the rest of the Worthing- tons in America, Dan L. Worthington was a staunch Episco- palian, being one of the pillars of that church in Genesee County. Mr. Worthington was one of the best known men of Genesee County, and was as widely respected as he was known. He was of kind and charitable nature, and found pleasure in doing good for good's sake.
June 26, 1836, Mr. Worthington married Indiana Louisa Pearson, daughter of Richard and Indiana Pearson of East Bethany, N. Y. Their children were: Charles Gad, Richard P., Robert Cone, George, and Dan.
Charles Gad Worthington was born at East Bethany, Genesee County, N. Y., November 6, 1841. He was educated in the public schools at Batavia, N. Y., and at a private school in that village. At the age of sixteen he began work as a clerk in his father's store in East Bethany. When he was twenty- two years old he removed to Buffalo, where he entered the employ of the Buffalo Mutual Insurance Company, continuing four years. In 1868 the firm of Worthington & Sill was formed, the partners being Charles G. Worthington and Henry S. Sill. The firm engaged in the fire and marine insurance business, and has existed continuously with the same partners up to the present time. It is the oldest agency for fire and marine insurance in Buffalo, having been in existence for four decades. From small beginnings the volume of business has grown until now a vast amount of insurance is written up by the firm annually. Worthington & Sill is one of the best-known insurance concerns in Western New York.
Mr. Worthington has always been a Republican, but has never desired to hold public office. He has confined his atten- tion to his insurance business, making it a rule not to engage in outside enterprises, the only exceptions being his connection with the Western Savings Bank, of which he has been a trustee
Tho Jindle
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since 1901, and with the Frontier Elevator Company, in which he has served as a trustee since 1900.
Mr. Worthington is a member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M .; of Keystone Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar, and the Consistory. He belongs to the Ellicott and Acacia Clubs, and has been a member of the Trinity Episcopalian Church ever since he came to Buffalo.
July 19, 1869, Mr. Worthington married Ella Maria Whitaker, daughter of Chauncey G., and Delia W. (Stafford) Whitaker of Buffalo. Their children are: Fannie B., born January 5, 1873, who is now Mrs. F. B. Alling of Buffalo, and Mabel S., born January 5, 1873, who is the wife of E. R. Davis of Buffalo. Mr. and Mrs. Alling have two children, Worthington P., and Cath- erine L. Alling.
THOMAS TINDLE. To no citizen of Buffalo can the appel- lation of industrial captain be applied with more propriety than to Thomas Tindle, of the firm of Tindle & Jackson, who are believed to be the largest operators of their kind in the world. In the vast enterprises built up by Mr. Tindle, Buffalo is utilized as a distributing center and an executive point from which to direct the commercial end of the industry.
Mr. Tindle comes of a family well known in Yorkshire, England, where his ancestors were farmers for several genera- tions. William Tindle, his grandfather, was the father of eight children: Thomas, John, William, Francis, Eleanor, Elizabeth, George, and Robert. Thomas Tindle, Sr., the father of Thomas Tindle of Buffalo, was a farmer. He married Mary Scutt, a daughter of Jonathan and Ann Scutt, of whom the latter was of Holland ancestry on her father's side. The children of Thomas Tindle, Sr., were: Frances, William, George, Thomas, Ann, and Marmaduke.
Thomas Tindle was born at Broomfleet, Yorkshire, England, April 7, 1836, and was educated in the common schools. When
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fourteen years old he began working on his father's farm, where he remained until he was nineteen. In 1855 he came to this country, settling in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and later going to Western Canada, where he was engaged in farming from 1856 to 1859. On returning to New York, he bought a farm in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., where he resided till 1865, when he removed to Oswego, N. Y., where he engaged in the forwarding business. On the removal of the firm to Buffalo, Mr. Tindle became its manager. Two years later the concern was dis- solved, and Mr. Tindle obtained employment with Toles & Sweet, canal forwarders, who were also among the largest deal- ers in cooperage stock in this section of the State. With this firm Mr. Tindle remained twelve years, as purchasing agent and salesman, the connection terminating January 1, 1880.
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