USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 29
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ciated with the Baltimore team. At this time Charles L. Hughes, now Governor, was a teacher in the Cornell Law School. He advised Mr. Taylor to begin his law practice in Buffalo, and the counsel was followed. The young attorney soon built up a successful business and continued up to his elevation to the bench.
After coming to Buffalo, Mr. Taylor continued to be identified with baseball matters, though not as a player. In 1905 he was President of the Buffalo Baseball Club, and during the season of 1906 served as President of the Eastern League.
Upon the election of the Hon. Edward K. Emery to the Supreme Court bench, Mr. Taylor was appointed by Governor Higgins, County Judge, to succeed him. In the fall of 1907 he was duly elected to that office for a term of six years, by a plurality of 13,957, running over 5,000 votes ahead of his ticket.
Always a Republican, Judge Taylor has been known as an earnest supporter of his party and a zealous worker in its behalf, but up to the time of his appointment as County Judge he had never held any public office.
Judge Taylor has cherished the ties and associations of his University days with the spirit of a true son of Cornell. Four years ago the Cornell alumni elected him a Trustee of his alma mater. He is a member of the University Club of Buffalo, is affiliated with Lodge of the Ancient Landmarks, F. & A. M .; is a 32d degree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, Ismailia Temple.
HON. ORSON J. WEIMERT, lawyer and Assemblyman from the 1st Assembly District of Erie County, is a rising young man of distinctive ability and force of character, who has by these qualities already won a prominent place in the legal profession and in public life. As a lawyer he enjoys a large practice and has an enviable reputation for acumen and probity. As a mem- ber of the Legislature he has to his credit a fine record of achievement, the more uotable in view of the fact that he has
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been so short a time in office. Mr. Weimert is a loyal son of Buffalo, and takes an active interest in the progress and insti- tutions of the city.
Mr. Weimert was born in Buffalo in 1878, and gained his early education in the public schools. He studied law at Columbia University, New York City, and was graduated from that insti- tution in 1900, in which year he was also admitted to the bar. After spending an additional year at Colum- bia, pursuing a course of special study, he returned to Buffalo and engaged in the practice of law, in which he has met with marked success. Recently he became associated in partnership with Richard H. Templeton, under the firm style of Weimert & Templeton, with offices at Nos. 909-910 D. S. Morgan Building. Messrs. Wei- mert & Templeton are among the best-known members of the younger bar of Erie County, and the firm has a desirable ORSON J. WEIMERT. clientage and an extensive general practice. As a legal prac- titioner Mr. Weimert is painstaking and accurate, preparing his cases with care and sparing no honorable effort in behalf of his clients. Of conservative tendencies, his instincts and acquire- ments are those of a sound lawyer, and he stands high in the esteem of his professional brethren and the confidence of the community.
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Politically Mr. Weimert is a strong Republican, and ever since attaining his majority he has taken an active part in the work of his party. In the fall of 1906 he was nominated for the Assembly after a spirited contest in the convention against strong opponents, and in November of the same year he was elected by a large majority, and reelected in 1907. His course at Albany has been that of an energetic, aggressive legislator, and has been attended by substantial results, conducive to the benefit of Buffalo. Thus far his most notable achievement in the Legislature has been his successful effort to have a naval corps established at the port of Buffalo. This project has been agi- tated for several years, but it remained for Assemblyman Weimert to give the plan definite shape and to push it through to conclusive results. The methods and the outcome furnish a fine example of purposeful and persistent endeavor in the field of legislation, and the success attained greatly increased the Assemblyman's prestige with his constituents and the general public. Since taking his seat in the State legislative body, Mr. Weimert has served with credit on several important com- mittees. For some time prior to his election to the Assembly he had filled the post of Republican Committeeman for the Third District of the Twenty-first Ward.
Mr. Weimart is a man who leaves on all who know him the impression of a clean-cut, vigorous personality. He is popular, and is one for whom may be confidently predicted a future of professional success and public usefulness.
EDWARD J. HINGSTON has long held a place in the front rank of Buffalo's solid citizens and successful men. Mr. Hingston is one of the leading general contractors of that city, and is especially identified with dredging and excavating enter- prises together with the building of water mains and submarine structures. He is a master of his business and a man of first- class executive ability.
Mr. Hingston is of English and Danish ancestry and comes
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of a family whose records have been preserved for many generations. The Hingstons are descended from the Danish chief, Hengist, who with Horsa fought King Alfred and finally received from that king a grant of land in Kent and Devonshire. The family name means "son of Hengist." The Hengistsons or Hingstons were 500 years ago a knightly family in Devon- shire. When the Civil War broke out in England the Hingstons took the Parliamentary side and served under Cromwell in Ireland, receiving for their reward a grant of land in County Cork, where the branch of the family from which Edward J. Hingston sprang made its home. To this line belongs also Sir William Hingston, who was Mayor of Montreal, and was knighted by Queen Victoria because of his distinguished attain- ments as a surgeon. Edward Hingston, father of Edward J. Hingston, was a master ship-builder of Dublin, and built some of the finest merchant vessels ever constructed in that port. In 1843 he came to this country and engaged in the shipbuilding business at Thomaston, now Rockland, Me. In 1844 he died at the age of thirty-four. He was a man of exceptional ability and by his death a career of great promise was cut short. In 1841 he married Elizabeth Jenkins of Whitehaven, Cumberland, England.
Edward J. Hingston was born at Thomaston, Me., January 22, 1844. His boyhood and youth were spent in England, and he was educated at the National School in Liverpool, where he taught school for some time. When eighteen years old he returned to this country and settled in Buffalo, where he learned the ship-builder's trade. After five years spent in that business he became bookkeeper for a well-known firm of Buffalo dredgers, and continued in that capacity for ten years. He then engaged in the dredging business for himself, forming a part- nership with Arthur Woods, under the firm style of Hingston & Woods. This copartnership prospered from the outset, and soon gained a leading reputation in its field, executing dredging contracts at the principal ports of the Great Lakes and tribu-
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tary rivers. Among the enterprises with which Messrs. Hingston & Woods were identified may be mentioned the building of the inlet pier of the Buffalo Water Works, the construction of the Lehigh Valley slips at Buffalo, the building of water mains for Rochester, Syracuse, Erie, Dunkirk and Tonawanda, and large rock removal contracts at Buffalo, Dunkirk, Erie, Oswego, Ashtabula, New Brunswick, N. J., and Sault Ste. Marie. The firm of Hingston & Woods was dissolved in 1902. Ten years before Mr. Hingston had become a member of the firm of Hingston, Rogers & O'Brien, which did a very successful business and existed till 1903, and he was also a partner in Leh & Co., dock-builders. In 1902 the Lake Erie Dredging Company was organized, with Mr. Hingston as its general manager. The concern carries on a large general dredging business, principally at ports on Lake Erie and Sault Ste. Marie River. It has successfully fulfilled a great number of contracts of important character, involving many critical problems of engineering and practical work. It is today one of the representative contracting concerns of the Great Lakes region.
In the diverse enterprises with which he has been connected, Mr. Hingston has demonstrated that he possesses a superior order of administrative ability and executive skill. His tech- nical knowledge has been confirmed and amplified by extensive experience. He is sound in methods, fertile in resources, and is the kind of man who may be relied on to materialize projects into results. Mr. Hingston's business pursuits have never obliterated the scholastic tastes of his youth, and his leisure time is chiefly spent in literary studies.
Mr. Hingston is a Mason of long standing, having been affiliated since 1866 with Washington Lodge, F. & A. M. He is a member of the Buffalo and Oakfield clubs, and was for many years connected with the Lafayette Presbyterian Church.
July 22, 1872, Mr. Hingston married Mary E. Rees, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Roberts) Rees of Buffalo. Mr. and
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Mrs. Hingston have two daughters, Louise, now Mrs. H. A. Meldrum, and Genevieve, now the wife of Mr. Clarence Spaulding Sidway.
HORACE A. NOBLE, senior member of the well-known firm of Frank Williams & Company, is one of Buffalo's most sub- stantial and most highly respected citizens. Born in Rome, Oneida County, New York, October 8, 1841, he is a son of John and Harriet A. Noble. His education was obtained in the pub- lic schools and the Academy at Rome, graduating from the latter at the age of 19 years. In 1862, while yet residing on the farm, he enlisted in Company C, Fiftieth Regiment, New York Volunteer Engineers, in the Civil War, and after serving in that company six months was detailed in the Quartermaster's Department of the Engineers' Brigade, serving until the close of the war, being mustered out in June, 1865. Immediately upon his return from the service he entered the employ of the Merchants' Bank of Syracuse, continuing there until the spring of 1867, when he removed to Buffalo, and there entered the employ of Mr. Frank Williams, then engaged in the forwarding business. In 1873 the coal business was added to the transpor- tation business, and in 1875 the firm of Frank Williams & Co. was organized, which has continued to exist to the present time and of which Mr. Noble is the senior member. This firm is not only one of the oldest in their line in the city, but one of the largest, operating three bituminous coal mines, besides pur- chasing large quantities in order to supply their extensive trade.
Mr. Noble is a Republican in politics. The only public office he ever consented to accept was that of Park Commissioner in 1904, by appointment of Mayor Knight. Mr. Noble is one of the most prominent Masons in the State, and his record is an enviable one. Made a Mason in Roman Lodge, No. 223, F. & A. M., at Rome, New York, August 19, 1865; affiliated with Queen City Lodge, No. 358, of Buffalo, April 7, 1876; made a
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Royal Arch Mason in Buffalo Chapter, No. 71, R. A. M., Decem- ber 13, 1876; made a member of Buffalo Council, No. 17, R. & S. M., November 8, 1877; made a Knight Templar in Lake Erie Commandery, No. 20, K. T., March 5, 1877; received the Scottish Rite Degrees in Rochester Consistory, February 26, 1880; affili- ated and was made a charter member of Buffalo Consistory about 1890; created Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, thirty- third degree honorary member in Supreme Council, September 17, 1895. He has held the offices of High Priest of Buffalo Chapter, 1881-2; Treasurer of Buffalo Chapter, from 1889 to date; served as Eminent Commander of Lake Erie Com- mandery, No. 20, in 1881-2-3-4; and served as Grand Commander in 1895-6.
March 19, 1867, Mr. Noble was married to Frances A. Wilcox, a daughter of Joseph and Fanny Jane Wilcox of Rome, New York. Their children are: Alma J., Joseph W., and Mary L. Noble.
CHARLES R. BORZILLERI, M.D., is a Buffalo physician of approved skill and high standing, prominent both as a pro- fessional man and in civic and social life. A native of Sicily, Dr. Borzilleri came to America in his boyhood and his active career has been identified with Buffalo, where he has built up a large practice and enjoys the esteem and confidence of the medical fraternity and the general public. One of Buffalo's fore- most Italian-Americans, Dr. Borzilleri holds a representative place among his own people, of whom he is an acknowledged leader, and also favorably known and widely popular among all classes. He is a zealous Republican and wields a strong influence in his party.
Dr. Borzilleri is the son of James and Josephine Borzilleri and was born in Sicily on the 3d of February, 1873. When twelve years old he came with his parents to the United States, and the family settled in Buffalo, where Dr. Borzilleri has ever since resided. His early education was obtained in the public
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schools. As a boy he exhibited marked aptitude for study, and his inclination for scientific research was one of the chief reasons for his choice of the medical profession. In 1891 he began the study of medicine in the Medical Department of the University of Buffalo. After pursuing the regular curriculum he was graduated with high honors in 1895. Immediately after receiving his diploma as a physician he opened an office in Buffalo, and ever since has practiced his profession there. Dr. Borzilleri brings to the practice of medicine an exceptionally strong equipment of native ability and professional attainments. His prac- tice is largely among the Italian-American resi- dents of Buffalo, and his services are also much in request in the general community. He is an experienced and able physician who consist- ently adheres to the DR. CHARLES R. BORZILLERI. sound scientific and ethical standards of his profession and keeps well abreast of its modern developments. With his pro- fessional colleagues and with the public his reputation is of the highest. One of the most notable of Dr. Borzilleri's public activities were his services as sole founder of the Italian Hospital established in 1907.
A staunch Republican, Dr. Borzilleri is President of the Central Italian Republican League and has a powerful influ- ence with the Italian Republicans of Buffalo. He organized
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and was President of the Young Men's Military Society, and is also identified with the I. C. I., a college fraternity. In matters relating to the welfare of Buffalo he has always shown the spirit of a progressive citizen. He is a trustee of the American Savings Bank, an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, takes an especially important part in the movement to ensure for Buffalo a better water supply system, and is equally inter- ested in the furtherance of harbor improvements.
Dr. Borzilleri attends the Church of St. Anthony of Padua.
On April 10, 1902, Dr. Borzilleri married Emily C. Klein, daughter of the late John H. Klein and Mary Bletzer Klein of Buffalo. They have two daughters, Eleanor, born March 23, 1904, and Josephine, born March 16, 1906.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS DOLSON, Deputy Attorney-General of New York, is one of Buffalo's leading lawyers. Mr. Dolson is a sound practitioner, an accomplished advocate, and is. recognized as one of the foremost trial lawyers in Western New York.
The Dolson family came from Holland, the name being for- merly Van Dolson, and is traceable to the early Colonial period. The muster rolls of New York State in the Revolution show that at least six members of the Dolson family served as soldiers in the War for Independence. Dolson town, in Orange County, derives its name from them.
In 1790 Stephen Dolson, the great-great-grandfather of Charles and Edwin L. Dolson, removed from Orange to Bath, Steuben County, N. Y. Rev. Stephen Augustus Dolson, grand- father, was a Methodist clergyman. His son, Dr. Joseph S. Dolson, the father of Charles A. Dolson, was a prominent physician and an influential citizen of Steuben County. He was a Republican, served as Postmaster at Bath, and held other political positions. He was a member of the first Board of Pension Examiners in Steuben County. When the Civil War broke out Dr. Dolson became Assistant Surgeon of the 161st
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Regiment, New York Volunteers, and during the last two years of the war served as Surgeon-in-Chief of the Military Hospital at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
In 1850 Dr. Dolson married Amelia A. Smith. Through her mother, Mary Howland, Mrs. Dolson was descended from John Howland, one of the Pilgrims who came over in the Mayflower. Mrs. Dolson was one of the earliest women physicians in the State. She successfully practiced her profession for forty years. Her death occurred in April, 1906. Dr. Dolson died on the 10th of July, 1893. They are survived by two sons, Charles A., and Edwin L. Dolson.
Charles Augustus Dolson was born in Bath, N. Y. He was educated in the public schools of Bath, Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, and the University of Michigan. On leaving college he went to Albany, N. Y., as clerk to Senator Gabriel Har- rower. Meantime he became a student at the Albany Law School. When twenty-one years old he was admitted to the bar. Immediately he formed a copartnership with former Congressman W. P. Richardson at Angelica, N. Y. In 1879 he removed to Elmira, where he practiced for several years, and for a time was associated with Charles D'Autremont, afterward Mayor of Duluth and Attorney-General. From Elmira Mr. Dolson went to Hornellsville, where he practiced until he came to Buffalo and became associated with George N. Orcutt. On the admission of Edwin L. Dolson to the bar in 1890, the brothers formed the partnership of Dolson & Dolson, which has, with the exception of one year, existed ever since.
To the duties of his profession Mr. Dolson brought a strong equipment of legal learning and native ability. He held a con- ceded place as one of the foremost lawyers of Steuben County, and was for years engaged in almost every case of large impor- tance in that locality.
In the fall of 1906 Mr. Dolson was appointed Deputy Attorney-General. Although the designation was to the Court of Claims, the Attorney-General has availed himself of Mr.
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Dolson's experience and ability in the direction and trial of important litigations outside of that department.
Mr. Dolson is a member of the State Bar Association, the Lawyers' Club of Buffalo, the Ellicott Club and the Yacht Club.
Mr. Dolson married Alice Harman of Andover, Allegeny County, N. Y. They have two daughters: Grace Neal Dolson, who was educated at Cornell University, later pursuing studies abroad at the Universities of Leipsic and Jena. From Cornell University she received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and is now a lecturer on philosophy at Wells College. During a two years' visit to Europe she completed a text-book on philo- sophical subjects. The other daughter, Elizabeth Harman, is the wife of Harry Smith, a well-known official of the Gould railway systems in the South. They reside at Ridgewood, New York.
THE SANGSTER FAMILY. S Since the early '40's the Sangsters have been among the prominent families of Buffalo, one representative of the stock having been a noted sculptor, and another a painter of national fame.
Hugh Sangster was born in Quebec June 27, 1790. He came to Buffalo in 1834, where he engaged in the copper and tin trade, and the manufacture of lanterns. He later removed to Newark, Ohio, returning to Buffalo after 1840. Here Mr. Sangster resided till his death in 1876. In April, 1827, at Kingston, Canada, Hugh Sangster married Mary Jane Fisher. Mrs. Sangster was born in 1813 and died in 1876. Eleven chil- dren were the issue of the marriage. They were: James, Amos W., Francis, Mary, Christine, William H., Charles H., Rena, John Thomas, Frances, and another child that died in infancy.
JAMES SANGSTER was born in Kingston, Canada. As a child he came with his parents to Buffalo and was educated in the public schools. For some years he worked for his father, and then went to New York City, where he spent a year under the
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instruction of an eminent sculptor, Henry K. Brown. On returning to Buffalo Mr. Sangster engaged in the pursuit of his art and mechanical engineering, being successful in both fields. In 1863 he entered the business of securing patents, which he followed alone till 1870, when he formed a copartnership with Victor H. Becker, under the firm style of Sangster & Becker. Mr. Sangster later continued the business alone till 1897, when he associated with him his son, Arthur J. Sangster, under the firm name of James Sangster & Co. In politics Mr. Sangster was a Republican, belonged to. Buffalo Lodge, No. 37, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and attended old Grace Methodist Church.
June 1, 1864, Mr. Sangster married Miss Sophronia Moore of Buffalo, who died in 1881. The surviving children of the union are: Arthur J., of Buffalo, and Cora S., now a teacher in the Lafayette High School.
James Sangster was a good man, a superior type of citizen and a man held in high esteem by the community. Largely self-educated, he was all his life earnest in the pursuit of cul- ture. He possessed a fine talent for sculpture.
AMOS W. SANGSTER was born at Kingston, Ontario, Feb- ruary 5, 1833. In early life he accompanied his parents to Buffalo, and was educated in the public schools there. As a youth he assisted his father in the latter's business, but his talent for art meantime found expression in wood engraving, and in which he did much work for the Courier Company. He later devoted himself wholly to art.
It is a remarkable fact that this accomplished painter and etcher was wholly self-taught. In his whole artistic career he only received one lesson, and was so dissatisfied that he never would consent to take another. A man of independent mind and keen observation, Mr. Sangster went to Nature for his instruction. His pictures were simple in conception, profound in sentiment and finished in execution. In oils, water-colors
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and etchings Mr. Sangster attained equal eminence. In addition to their consummate art, the works of Mr. Sangster have a distinct historic value. To him pre-eminently belongs the title of "Painter of the Niagara Frontier," whose grand and picturesque scenes he devoted a large share of his life to reproducing. He was a particularly strong painter of marine subjects. He spent many summers with easel and sketch-book at Orchard Park, and he loved to sketch along the shores of the Niagara River and Lake Erie. There is scarcely a home in Buffalo having pretentions to art culture which does not have on its walls a picture or etching bearing his familiar signature. For many years Mr. Sangster conducted a studio with the late A. N. Samuels. There are few Buffalo artists who have not at one time or another studied with Mr. Sangster. He was a successful instructor.
Mr. Sangster was a charter member and first President of the Buffalo Society of Artists, and a charter member of the Young Men's Christian Association.
October 13, 1853, Mr. Sangster married Miss Eliza B. Rem- ington, daughter of Edwin and Eliza (Kilburn) Remington of Buffalo. The only child of the union died in infancy.
The death of Mr. Sangster occurred on the 23d of April, 1904. ARTHUR J. SANGSTER, son of James Sangster, was born in Buffalo on the 19th of March, 1869. After receiving a common and High School education, he studied law in the Buffalo Law School. In 1897 he became associated with his father in his patent business, under the firm name of James Sangster & Co. Since the death of the elder Sangster, Arthur J. Sangster has continued to conduct the business alone. Mr. Sangster is a man of large experience, of strict integrity, and is an expert in his special field. He commands the public confidence and has maintained and amplified the business of which he is the pro- prietor.
April 3, 1900, Mr. Sangster married Miss Lulu May Billings, daughter of James D. and Cornelia (Squire) Billings of Buffalo:
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FRANK A. ABBOTT, District Attorney of Erie County, has won distinguished success at the bar, whether his professional achievements be considered with reference to his present official position or in connection with the general field of legal practice. As District Attorney it has fallen to Mr. Abbott to conduct some of the most important cases with which the interests of the people of Erie County have ever been identified, and with results alike creditable to himself and satisfactory to the public. As a general practitioner he has been equally suc- cessful, and he ranks as an eminently able all- around lawyer, familiar both with the intricacies of office work and the tac- tics of the court-room.
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