USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 23
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Library of the Eighth Judicial District and served for three years as a Director of the Buffalo Library. He has received high Masonic honors, being a Mason of the 32d degree, a mem- ber and Past Master of De Molay Lodge, No. 498, F. & A. M., and a member of Buffalo Chapter, R. A. M. He has also served a term as District Deputy Grand Master of the State of New York for the 25th Masonic District.
On the 4th of June, 1884, Mr. Pooley married Carrie Adams, daughter of Hon. S. Cary Adams of Buffalo. Their children are: Harriet A., born in 1885, a student at Vassar College; Charles W., born in 1886, a student at Harvard University, and Margaret H. Pooley, born in 1895.
NATHANIEL WILLIS NORTON. The Norton family of Buffalo is of New England lineage. Nathaniel Norton, grand- father of Nathaniel W. Norton, was born in 1762 near Portland, Me., and was descended from the early Puritans of Plymouth Colony. He was a farmer, a soldier of the Revolution, and fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He died in 1831. He married Hannah Sawyer. Their son, Ebenezer Norton, was born in 1814 at Limington, Me., and died in 1886. He was educated in the public schools and grew up to be a farmer and mechanic. When a young man he removed to Oxford County, Me., where he cleared a large farm and built a sawmill. He was a Repub- lican, an influential citizen, and a man of strict probity of life. He married Martha Sargent of Brownfield, Me., whose mother, Mothsheba Edwards, was descended from the famous minister, Jonathan Edwards. The surviving children of Ebenezer Norton are: Harriett Maria (Mrs. Freeman H. Chadbourne of Everett, Mass.); Hannah Abbie (Mrs. Charles B. Davis of Hiram, Me.); Nathaniel Willis Norton and Rosewell Messenger Norton of Buffalo; Richard Fremont Norton of Porter, Me .; Sarah Eliza- beth Norton; Mary Alice (Mrs. Frederick W. Sargent of Everett, Mass.); Elmer Ellsworth Norton of Norwood, Mass .;
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Herbert Franz Jean Norton of Buffalo, and Florence Ethel Norton of Porter, Me.
NATHANIEL WILLIS NORTON, a leading lawyer of Buffalo, is known not only as a legal practitioner, but for his identification with civic, educational and benevolent interests. He was born at Porter, Oxford County, Me., on the 3d of March, 1853. He attended district schools, worked on his father's farm, and as a young man taught school for five years. He was prepared for college in the Nichols Latin School at Lewiston, Me., and entered Bates College, where he spent his Freshman year. In 1875 he joined the Sophomore class of Dart- mouth College, and was graduated from the classical course in 1878. Five years later he received from Dartmouth College the degree of Master of Arts.
After leaving college, Mr. Norton became principal of the High School at Ware, Mass., and registered as a law student with Henry W. Davis of Ware. He graduated from the Law School of Union University in 1880, was immediately afterward admitted to the bar, and located in practice at Buffalo. In 1885 Rosewell M. Norton, and in 1894 another brother, Herbert F. J. Norton, became associated with him, the present firm style being Norton Brothers.
Mr. Norton is a Republican, and served in 1889 and 1890 as Assistant United States District Attorney under Col. D. S. Alexander. He also served four years as County Attorney. from 1902 to 1906.
Mr. Norton is a life member of the Young Men's Association, has served as one of its trustees, and was President of its Executive Board for three years. He is one of the trustees of the Buffalo Library, and has been a life member and trustee of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum for more than fifteen years. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Buffalo, Saturn, and University clubs, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternity, and is a life member of the Buffalo Historical Society.
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June 30, 1880, Mr. Norton married Mary Estella Miner, daughter of Dr. Julius F. Miner of Buffalo. Mrs. Norton died in 1889, leaving one child, Martha Miner Norton, who was born in 1882. June 17, 1903, Mr. Norton married his second wife, Mrs. Mary Louise Cilley, daughter of James P. Golding of Buffalo.
JOHN TREFTS, whose lamented death occurred on the 5th of October, 1900, was for more than fifty years one of the fore- most men in the iron industry of Buffalo. -
He was the son of George and Katharine (Frizel) Trefts, and was born in Alsace, then a province of France. He came to this country with his parents about 1819, the family settling first in Pittsburg, Pa. Later the father placed his family and goods on one of the " prairie schooners " and began the long journey to a farm in Southern Ohio. But he died on the way, and his son, John Trefts, turned the team eastward, and drove back to Pittsburg. There he gained his first knowledge of the iron industry, where he learned the trade of a moulder.
In 1845 Mr. Trefts came to Buffalo, where he became a fore- man in the Buffalo Steam Engine Works. He remained with this concern and its successors nearly twenty years, becoming a stockholder of the company and a leading factor in the business. After the panic of 1857 the firm was reorganized under the style of George W. Tifft, Sons & Co.
In 1859 Mr. Trefts became interested in the oil business in Pennsylvania, both as an operator and a manufacturer of mechanical appliances for use in oil production. He made the castings for the engine used to pump the Drake welk, the first one sunk in the oil region, and in operating a well in which he was part owner he employed the first engine that ever drilled with a rope, as well as the first set of jars ever used in oil production. Mr. Trefts was successful in various ventures in the oil country, and had an important share in the pioneer oil development of Pennsylvania.
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In 1864, with Chillion M. Farrar and Theodore C. Knight, Mr. Trefts established in Buffalo the firm of Farrar, Trefts & Knight. This was the beginning of the great iron industry of Farrar & Trefts, which name was assumed on the retirement of Mr. Knight from the concern in 1869. With this firm Mr. Trefts was identified up to his death.
Mr. Trefts was married first to Catherine Potter in 1848. She was a daughter of Martin Potter of Gowanda, N. Y., and came of the well-known Parkinson family of New England, being a descendant of Capt. Parkinson, who served in the Revolution- ary War. Mrs. Trefts died in 1850 and Mr. Trefts married for his second wife Angeline Siver of Buffalo. George M. Trefts was the only child of the first marriage. A daughter, Evadne, now Mrs. Clarence E. Rood, was the child of the second union.
GEORGE MARTIN TREFTS, son of John Trefts, is one of Buffalo's leading business men and citizens. As a proprietor and acting head of the firm of Farrar & Trefts, he directs the business of a gigantic industry, and has won the reputation of being one of the ablest industrial executives in the country.
Mr. Trefts was born at Collins Center, Erie County, N. Y., on September 8, 1850. His boyhood was spent in Buffalo, where he received a public school education. He gained his first practical experience in business selling papers. Later he entered the employ of Mixer & Smith, lumber merchants, on the docks.
After the firm of Farrar & Trefts located on Perry street, George M. Trefts entered the establishment. As a young man he mastered every branch of the business, both in its technical aspects and its broader bearings. He rapidly grew to be an important factor in the industry, and in course of time became general manager. Since the death of both the partners, Mr. Trefts has carried on the business, which is one of the largest of its kind in this section of the country. At the extensive plant of Farrar & Trefts are manufactured stationary engines and
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boilers, and the concern does a general foundry and machine works business. The firm also owns the East Buffalo Iron Works, a plant covering seven acres.
GEORGE M. TREFTS.
Mr. Trefts is a member of Hiram Lodge of Masons; Lake Erie Com- mandery, Knights Tem- plar; Buffalo Council, Royal and Select Masons, and Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is socially prominent, and is a mem- ber of the Buffalo and Ellicott Clubs.
Mr. Trefts was married to Miss Eva Imogene Jones, daughter of Miles Jones of Buffalo, and Elizabeth Roop. Mrs. Trefts died in 1900, leav- ing two children, George M. Trefts, Jr., and John C. Trefts.
THOMAS STODDART, of the firm of Stoddart Bros., pro- prietors of the largest drug and surgical instrument store in the United States, is one of Buffalo's leading business men, and a public-spirited citizen.
John Stoddart, grandfather of Thomas Stoddart, was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and resided there all his life. His son, John Stoddart, was born in Dumfriesshire in 1816, and died in 1888. He occupied the Forgreth farm of the Dalswinton estate, remaining there nearly twenty-five years. He was a substantial and very prosperous man. In 1840 he married
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Elizabeth Waugh, daughter of William Waugh. They had seven children, all sons. Of these, five are living, all of whom were born at the Forgreth farm. They are: Dr. A. C. Stod- dart of San Francisco, Cal .; Maxwell S. Stoddart of Thorndale, Ont .; Thomas and Charles Stoddart of Buffalo, and Dr. James Stoddart.
Subsequent to 1864 John Stoddart brought his family to America, settling at Thorndale, Ontario, where he purchased a farm, and lived till his death in 1888. Mrs. Stoddart, at the age of ninety-eight years, is still living upon the homestead in Thorndale. John Stoddart was a true Scotsman, a man of strong character and abundant determination. He was a Presbyterian of the "old doctrine," and one of the leading members of the East Nissouri Presbyterian Church.
Thomas Stoddart was born September 10, 1856, at the Forg- reth farm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He attended the Duncow school, until he left Scotland in 1864, when he was eight years old. After the family settled in West Nissouri, Ont., young Stoddart attended public school until he was fourteen years of age, finishing his education at the College Institute at St. Mary's, Ontario, from which he graduated at seventeen. He then left Canada and came to Buffalo, finding employment as a clerk in a drug store. He exhibited a strong natural aptitude for the drug business, and in 1877, in partnership with his brother, Charles, established a general retail drug, surgical instrument and hospital supplies store, which the brothers have conducted to the present time. The firm maintains the largest drug and surgical instrument store in the country, occupying a building four stories high and 200 feet long by 50 feet wide, with a clerical force of 65 employees.
Mr. Stoddart is a member of the Erie County. Pharmaceutical Association, of which he was one of the founders, also serving a year as President. During his administration, local phar- macy took an upward step by the formation of the Erie County Board of Pharmacy. Mr. Stoddart is a member of the New
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York State Pharmaceutical Association, and has often acted as Chairman of the Executive Committee of that body. In 1901 and 1902 he served as President of the Association. He is also a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association. Mr. Stoddart was First Vice-President of the Scottish Building Association, the first organization of its kind in Buffalo. He takes a keen interest in the people and the lore of his native land, and for a number of years was President of St. Andrew's Scottish Society, of which he is still a member. He also belongs to the Buffalo Historical Society, and the Buffalo and Ellicott clubs.
Mr. Stoddart is a life-long Republican. In the autumn of 1901 he received the Republican nomination for Councilman and was elected by a handsome majority. He served for four years with credit to himself and benefit to the city. In 1905 he was President of the Board of Councilmen, and during the absence of Mayor Knight, Mr. Stoddart served as Acting Mayor.
On the 25th of April, 1881, Mr. Stoddart married Emma B. Peterson, daughter of John and Isabelle Carroll Peterson of Buffalo. Mr. and Mrs. Stoddart have two children, John Thomas, who is a student in Yale University, and Isabelle, who is studying at Holy Angels Academy, Buffalo. Mrs. Stoddart is socially prominent, and is very active in the leading charities of the city.
LOUIS EUGENE DESBECKER, whose character and legal ability received so notable a popular tribute by his election to the office of Corporation Counsel, is one of the very ablest of the rising men of the Buffalo bar, and in learning and other professional qualifications ranks with the foremost of his compeers of the legal fraternity. The high standing Mr. Des- becker has attained in his profession may be regarded as a logical result of native talent finding expression in ardnous endeavor. Though still in the early prime of life, Mr. Desbecker
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is a man of ripe experience and a lawyer of unusual acquire- ments, scholastic as well as forensic.
Mr. Desbecker is the son of Samuel and Marie (Weil) Desbecker, and was born in Buffalo on the 2d day of April, 1871. He received a liberal education in the grammar schools of this city, the Central High School, and for a year from a private tutor. In 1889 he entered Harvard University, gradu- ating in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered New York Law School in New York City, from which he graduated in 1894, with the degree of LL.B., within a month after graduation being admitted to the bar at New York City. Immediately returning to Buffalo, he entered the law office of Marcy & Close, where he continued until December of the following year, when he associated himself with Mr. Simon Fleischmann and Mr. William R. Pooley. The association he continued for ten years, building up a large and lucrative prac- tice of a general nature.
On the 1st of January, 1906, Mr. Desbecker formed a partner- ship with Messrs. Irving L. Fiske and James O. Moore, under the firm name of Desbecker, Fiske & Moore.
Viewed from the professional standpoint, Mr. Desbecker is considered a sound, energetic, well-grounded, successful lawyer, who keeps close in touch, not only with the work of his profession, but with those things in the community of a general nature, in which a lawyer, as a good citizen, should be interested.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Desbecker has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his party, but was never a candidate for any office until 1903, when ten days before elec- tion he accepted the Democratic nomination for Councilman to fill a vacancy on the ticket. Out of thirty-four candidates, J. N. Adam for Councilman was the only Democratic elected, and Mr. Desbecker received the largest vote of any Democratic nominee save Mr. Adam.
In the fall of 1905 Mr. Desbecker was unanimously nomi-
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nated by the Democratic City Convention for Corporation Counsel, and was elected by nearly 5,000 plurality, again running next to Mr. Adam, who was elected Mayor. On the 1st of January, 1906, Mr. Desbecker began serving his four-year term of office as Corporation Counsel, and during the brief time he has held the position has made an excellent record.
Mr. Desbecker is ex-officio a trustee of the Buffalo Public Library and of the Historical Society; is a member of Temple Beth-Zion, and is one of the original members of the University Club, of which he has served as Director and Secretary. He is also a member of the Buffalo Yacht Club, the Buffalo Club, and Park Club of Buffalo, and the Harvard Club of New York City. He is a Mason, being affiliated with the Ancient Landmarks Lodge of this city.
FREDERICK L. DANFORTH. When on September 5, 1897, there passed away that sterling citizen, Frederick L. Danforth, another of a famous coterie of Buffalo's mnost capable men of the past was removed. Long identified as one of the leading financiers of the city, his entire life affords an example of dignified yet vigorous effort, crowned with success.
Mr. Danforth was born June 17, 1833, in Middletown, Conn., being a son of Josiah and Almira Danforth. His educational training was limited to that of the common schools. In 1854, then a young man, he came to Buffalo, where he became a clerk in the employ of Pratt & Co., at that time the largest mercan- tile house in the city. His industry and fidelity so won the confidence of his employers that he was advanced by rapid promotion to more responsible positions until he was made cashier, and later managed the fiscal affairs of the concern for several years, and throughout the long period during which the business was under the active direction of Mr. Pascal S. Pratt. The operations of this house were of great magnitude and the responsibilities of Mr. Dauforth's position were very important. He here laid the foundation for the subsequent high place he
Frederick R Danforth
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occupied in the confidence of leading business men and citizens as a careful and painstaking official. On the dissolution of the firm of Pratt & Co., in 1879, Mr. Danforth was elected cashier and director of the Bank of Attica, continuing in that relation up to February 5, 1895, when he was elected to the Presidency of the bank. This position he occupied with distinguished ability as a financier and with credit and honor to himself and the institution up to his death. As head of the Bank of Attica, Mr. Danforth gained a wide reputation as one of the most cautious, clear-headed and sagacious bankers of Buffalo. Devoted to the interests of the bank, he brought to the administration of its affairs great business ability, mature experience and keen foresight. Among other important offices of honor and trust held by Mr. Danforth was that of President of the Buffalo Creek Railroad Company, and President of the Union Terminal Railroad Company. He also held large vessel interests in association with James Ash, and as principal owner of the Hand & Johnson tug line.
A man of deep religious sentiment, Mr. Danforth was a mem- ber of the North Presbyterian Church, which he served for many years as elder and President of the Board of Trustees. One of the predominant attributes of his fine nature was his great devotion to the Church and its institutions. In his rela- tions to his church as in every attitude of his beneficent life, he was sincere, faithful and generous. His home life was singularly attractive. He knew what the joys of a Christian home were, and to swell the sum of domestic happiness brought his own affluent contributions of piety, culture, fidelity and love. Of broad sympathy and generous impulses, his charities were many and widely bestowed, though so quietly that few ever knew of the great benevolences of this good man's heart save those who were the recipients of his bounty.
On September 15, 1859, Mr. Danforth married Grace Long Francis, a daughter of the late Daniel Francis, a former Buffalo citizen, and to them were born the following children: Fred-
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erick W., Frank L., William E., and Grace L., all of whom survive.
Mrs. Danforth has recently placed in the new North Presby- terian Church a handsome window as a memorial to her late husband.
JOHN DAVID HOWLAND, M.D., Deputy Medical Examiner for Erie County, is a well-known physician and surgeon of Buffalo, and a recognized authority on military surgery. Dr. Howland holds the rank of Major in the 65th Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, and was in active service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. He is a leading member of the United Spanish War Veterans, and is identified with other organizations, lay and medical.
John Howland, the first of the American branch of the How- land family, came over in the Mayflower. His brother, Henry, was a freeman of Plymouth Colony in 1633, and was one of the earliest inhabitants of Duxbury, Mass. At the time of the Quaker controversy in 1658, Henry Howland and his brother, Arthur, were converts to the new faith, and suffered much from Puritan persecutions.
Henry Howland's son, Zoeth, was the father of Nathaniel, whose son, James, was the father of Thomas Howland, who was born in 1718 and died in 1798. He was the father of John W. Howland, whose son, John W., Jr., was the father of George William Howland, father of the subject of this sketch. George William Howland was born at Westport, Mass., February 9, 1817, and died October 27, 1901. He was a building contractor, and carried on business at New Bedford and Fall River, Mass. September 4, 1842, he married Lydia A. James, who was born March 24, 1825, and died in 1866. They have had twelve chil- dren.
Dr. John David Howland was born in New Bedford, Mass., June 12, 1865. When he was a year old his mother died, and he came to Buffalo to be reared by his sister, Mrs. John H.
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Wilkins. He attended the public schools, and pursued a course in the Central High School. In 1889 he entered the Medical Department of the Niagara University of Buffalo, graduating with the degree of M.D., in 1891. After his graduation, Dr. Howland entered the United States Marine Hospital service in Buffalo, continuing in this connection till January 1, 1898. January 1, 1902, he was appointed physician at the Erie County Penitentiary, serving until April of that year, when he was appointed Deputy Medical Examiner for Erie County, which place he has filled with signal capability. In December, 1905, he was reappointed for a term of three years. In politics Dr. Howland is a Republican.
In 1884 Dr. Howland became a member of the old Cadet Corps of the 65th Regiment, and was later advanced through the intermediate grades to the rank of Captain. March 20, 1889, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company D, of the 65th Regiment. He became First Lieutenant November 27, 1889, receiving the commission of Captain December 28, 1892. On November 10, 1902, he attained the rank of Major, and the command of the Second Battalion, which office he still holds. When the Spanish-American War broke out, Major Howland was commissioned Major of the 65th Regiment U. S. Volunteer Infantry, and served with the regiment until it returned home. He then became Regimental Adjutant of the 202d Regiment, N. Y. V. I., and served in camp and field in Cuba six months, until the command was mustered out at Savannah, Ga., in April, 1899. Maj. Howland was for ten years President of the Delinquency Court in the State military service, and was also the Summary Court Officer in the Volunteer United States Service. He is the possessor of a fifteen-year medal awarded for "long and faithful service," and as a marksman is qualified as " distinguished expert," the highest grade of proficiency attainable. Ever since the organi- zation of the United Spanish War Veterans, Major Howland has been a prominent member of that body, having served as
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Chaplain, Commander of Seyburn Camp, Surgeon-General of the national organization, and senior Vice-Commander-in- Chief.
Dr. Howland is a member of the Erie County Medical Society, the Academy of Medicine, the Knights of Pythias, and the Heptasophs. He attends the Episcopal Church.
In 1895, Dr. Howland married Susan Hibeck, daughter of Zachariah Hibeck, and Eleaza Steele of Erie, Pa. They have one son, Howard H. Howland, born November 21, 1896.
PHILIP G. SCHAEFER, President of the Lake View Brewing Company, is one of the foremost brewers of the State and a highly esteemed citizen of Buffalo. Mr. Schaefer is of German extraction, his father, Alois Schaefer, having been born in Wurtemburg in 1836. Coming to America as a young man, he learned the brewing business, and in 1868 established the Schaefer Brewery in Buffalo. The business founded by Alois Schaefer was successfully conducted by him till 1885, the year of the incorporation of the present company, when he retired from the active management. Alois Schaefer married Mary R. Whitman, a daughter of Joseph Whitman of Buffalo. Their children were: Philip G., Mary C., Clara C. (Mrs. Frederick A. Heron), and Madelaine, the latter now deceased.
Philip G. Schaefer was born in Buffalo May 29, 1862. After attending the parochial schools he entered Canisius College, from which he graduated in 1876, later taking a course at Bryant & Stratton's Business College. He first entered busi- ness as bookkeeper and collector for the Schaefer Brewery, continuing till 1885, when the Lake View Brewing Company was incorporated, with Mr. Schaefer as General Manager. The company succeeded to the business of the old Schaefer Brewery and was conducted with marked success and a great increase of patronage. Philip G. Schaefer remained general manager and acting executive head of the concern till April 1, 1906, when he became President of the Company, which position he now
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